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^■'C-c-e.-a^t-*— 



MIAMI AND DADE 
COUNTY, FLORIDA 

Its Settlement, Progress 
and Achievement 




By E. V. Blackman 

Prexident of the Dade County Jlistoriail Socieli/ 



WITH A COLLECTION OF INDIVIDUAL SKETCHES 
OF REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS AND GENEALOG- 
ICAL RECORDS OF SOME OF THE OLD FAMILIES 



ILL U S T R A T E D 



VICTOR RAINBOLT 

WASHINGTON. D. C. 
1921 



COPYRIGHT, 1921 

By 
Victor Rainboi.t 



5i^! A62?7tJ8 

. H0Ul?'2i 






DEDICATION 



To the Memory of 

HENRY M. FLAGLER 

Florida's Great Benefactor 

THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY 
DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR 




AUTHOR'S FOREWORD 



ALL histoiy is necessarily an abridgment, 
^ the historian being compelled to select his 
material from a nmltitiide of details. In the 
preparation of this history of Miami and Dade 
Comity much has doubtless been omitted that 
might have been of interest, but the author has 
been obliged to confine his text to the more salient 
points as illustrative of certain phases of local 
histor,y. 

I have been promj^ted to perform this servic<^ 
by an earnest desire to see woven into permanent 
record the wonderful story of this wonderful 
eonmiunity, for the benefit not only of contempo- 
rary readers, but for future generations as well. 
I can but hope that my effort will meet with the 
approval of that intelligent and public-spirited 
citizenship in whose behalf the work was under- 
taken. 

Thankful acknowledgment is here made to the 
many friends who have kindly furnished ma- 
teiial for this work and to those whose patronage 
made its publication possible. 

E. V. Blackman. 
Miami, Florida. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Page 

Dade County 11 

Early History 11 

Perrine Grant 11 

Original Dade County 13 

Early Settlers 15 

The Seminole Indians 16 

City of Miami 18 

The First Awakening 18 

The Birth of a City 19 

Early Settlers 20 

Miami Today 23 

Churches 27 

Dade County Schools 31 

Civic Organizations and Clubs 34 

Dade County Bar 37 

The Medical Profession 41 

Military History 43 

Banks and Banking 46 

The Press 50 

Henry M. Flagler 51 

Julia D. Tuttle 58 

Agriculture and Horticulture 61 

Koads and Bridges 64 

The Florida Everglades 66 

The Deep Water Movement 68 

The Dade County Fair 70 



TABLE OF CO}\TE^T^— Continued. 

Page 

Coconut Grove "72 

Early Settlement 72 

Cocouut Gi'ove Library 75 

Biscayne Bay Yacht Club 75 

Housekeepers Club 76 

Miami Beach 77 

Towns and Villages 80 

Miscellaneous 84 

Mr. Flagler 's First Public Address 84 

The Mosquito of Other Days 85 

Community Names 86 

Biographical 91 



DADE COUNTY 



Early History 



IN the year 1808 the Spanish government, which at that time 

I owned Florida, granted to John Egan 100 acres of land situ- 
ated on the Miami River, then known as Sweet Water, where 
the City of Miami is now located. The grant was made Febru- 
I ary 27, 1808. Egan disposed of one tract of this land to 
Frances Lee and the balance to Thomas Gibson. After Florida was 
ceded to the United States by Spain, James Egan, a son of John Egan, pre- 
sented claims for 640 acres and his claim was recognized and confirmed by 
the United States commissioners at St. Augustine. James Egan later con- 
veyed his donation to Richard Fitzpatric, who had also become the owner of 
the John Egan grant. These two tracts were afterward mortgaged to John 
Egan's sister, Harriet English, who conveyed the lands to William F. Eng- 
lish, who brought here a large number of slaves and commenced extensive 
farming projects. He farmed a large portion of the hammock and pine 
lands, his principal crops being cotton, tobacco and indigo. English died 
without making any disposition of his property and, he being unmarried, 
the property was equally divided between his mother, Harriet English, and 
an only brother, John English. Harriet English conveyed her undivided 
half interest to Dr. J. V. Harris, of Key West. The late Governor William 
P. Gleason thought he had a claim to some of this property, but the courts 
decided against him. About this time a company known as the Biscayne 
Bay Company was organized and George F. Thew, on behalf of the Bis- 
cayne Bay Company, purchased the interests of Dr. Harris and the claims 
of Governor Gleason, which settled the controversy over the titles of these 
lands. Later Thew conveyed these lands to the Biscayne Bay Company, 
who, in turn, conveyed them to Frank G. Ford. Ford transferred the prop- 
erty to J. G. Bailey, W. L Wheeless, Joseph Day and George M. Thew. 
Afterward Joseph Day purchased the interests of his associates and some- 
time later sold the property to the late Mrs. Julia D. Tuttle. The half in- 
terest in this property inherited by John English passed to the heirs of 
Joseph M. English, Beverly English and Harriet Gillispie and they also con- 
veyed their interests to Mrs. Tuttle. These transactions perfected the 
chain of titles of these properties in the original grant. 



The Perrine Grant 

One of the early acts that brought Dade County before the general 
public was the act of Congress in 1838 which made a grant of one town- 
ship of land to Dr. Henry Perrine, a noted scientist, for the purpose of in- 

11 



troducing purely tropical plants and trees from the tropics. Dr. Perrine 
had several years' experience in tropical countries and during his resi- 
dence abroad he became imbued with the idea that in southern Florida the 
climatic conditions were similar to those in the real tropics, and that if a 
large number of trees, plants and shrubs could be brought to the United 
States and successfully grown that it would be a great economic measure, 
saving the people of the United States millions of dollars each year, be- 
sides building up what was then a wilderness. Dr. Perrine, with this 
thought in view, went before Congress and asked that one township (six 
miles square) be granted him for this purpose. On July 2, 1838, Congress 
passed the following Act : 

Whereas, in obedience to the Treasury circular of the sixth of Sep- 
tember, eighteen hundred and twenty-seven, Doctor Henry Perrine, late 
American consul at Camp Peachy, has distinguished himself by his perse- 
vering exertions to introduce tropical plants into the United States ; and 

Whereas, he has demonstrated the existence of a tropical climate in 
south Florida, and has shown the consequent certainty of the immediate 
domestication of tropical plants in tropical Florida, and the great prob- 
ability of their gradual acclimation throughout all our southern and south- 
western states, especially of profitable plants as propagate themselves on 
the poorest soil, and 

Whereas, if the enterprise should be successful it will render valuable 
our hitherto worthless soils by covering with a dense population of small 
cultivators and family manufacturei'S, and will promote the peace, pros- 
perity and permanency of the Union ; therefore. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 
United States of America, in Congress assembled, That a township of land 
is hereby granted to Doctor Henry Perrine and his associates in tlae south- 
ern extremity of the peninsular of east Florida, to be located in one body of 
six miles square, upon any portion of the public lands between 26 degrees 
north latitude. 

Section 2. And be it further enacted, That the said tract of land shall 
be located within two years from this date by said Henry Perrine, and 
shall be surveyed under his direction by the surveyor of Florida, provided 
that it shall not embrace any land having sufficient quantities of naval 
timber to be reserved to the United States nor any site for maritime ports 
or cities. 

Section 3. That whenever any section of land in said tract shall 
really be occupied by a bona fide settler, engaged in the propagation or cul- 
tivation of valuable tropical plants, and upon proof thereof being made to 
the Commissioner of the General Land Office, a patent shall be issued to 
the said Henry Perrine and his associates. 

Section 4. And be it further enacted, That every section of land in 
the aforesaid which shall not be occupied by actual settlers engaged in the 
propagation or cultivation of useful tropical plants within eight years from 
the location of said tract, or when the said adjacent territory shall be sur- 
veyed and offered for sale, shall be forfeited to the United States. 

Before it was possible for Dr. Perrine and his associates to cany out 
the provisions of this act he was murdered by the Seminole Indians. His 
widow was unable to carry out the contract or grant provisions made by 

12 




Old Barracks. Fort Dallas, and First Court House 



! 

Is 



.'■,-* ^ i ./ 




Present Dade County Court House 



her late husband. In 1847 Dr. Perrine and his associates selected the 
lands. The lands were surveyed and designated on tlie public maps as 
"Peri'ine Grant." In 1873 an application was made by the State of Florida 
to list the lands embraced within the grant to the State under the swamp 
land act of 1850, which application was refused upon the ground that the 
lands belonged to the Perrine heirs. Up to this time the Perrines had 
brought 36 families from the Bahamas, who had settled on lands in the 
grant. It is claimed that these families, or a major part of them, were 
driven away by the Indians. On account of the murder of Dr. Perrine, the 
heirs were not able to carry out the provisions of the grant in full. This 
caused some litigation, which was finally decided in favor of the Perrine 
heirs. J. E. Ingraham, vice president of the Florida East Coast Railroad, 
entered into an arrangement with the Perrine heirs, and the grant was 
taken over by the railroad company, with Mr. Ingraham as trustee. Later 
Mr. Ingraham turned the property over to the railroad company. Dr. S. H. 
Richmond, formerly of Massachusetts, was appointed resident agent for 
the Perrine grant. Dr. Richmond was a graduate from the Massachusetts 
Agricultural College, which made him a valuable asset to the settlers who 
came in from other sections. 

Originai. Dade County 

Originally, Dade County on the north commenced on the north side of 
the St. Lucie River and extended southward to the Monroe County line 
and westward to the Lee County line, the Atlantic Ocean being its eastern 
boundary. The geological formation of the original county varied greatly 
and included Everglade marl, sand prairie, pine land, flat woods, ham- 
mock and swales. In the northern part were also many acres of scrub lands. 
The surface of the lands in the northern part of the county vary greatly 
from the lands in the central and southern portion of the county. The 
marl lands in the northern part of the old county are of the same general 
character as all the marl lands, except that in some parts there is a greater 
amount of sand mixed with the marl formation. The hammock lands, orig- 
inally covered with a growth of hardwood timber, were considered of a 
much richer quality than the other land, except the Everglade and muck 
pockets. In coming south from Jupiter, the character of the hardwood 
timber in the hammocks changes. The ordinaiy hardwood is slightly mixed 
with some of the more tropical trees, increasing in tropical growth until 
in the hammocks of Fort Lauderdale the common hardwood varieties dis- 
appear entirely and the hardwoods of the tropics take their place. The 
lands in the northern portion of the county are of the same general forma- 
tion as those in other portions of the state, but on reaching Fort Lauder- 
dale there is a decided change in the character of the land and the natural 
wild growth in the hammocks. Here, the coraline rock formation begins to 
crop out, and in coming southward this rock formation is more pronounced. 
In some places the entire surface of the land is covered with boulders. In 

13 



other places the rock is called "pot hole" rock, while in other sections plate 
rock comes to the surface. The surface rocky lands do not extend far into 
the Everglades, but at different depths the rock is found, and going west- 
ward the dip is greater. The soil overlaying the rock in the Everglades is 
either sand marl or muck (peat), with here and there small hammock 
islands where the soil runs from 1 to 20 feet deep over the rock. 

What is now known as the Everglades was once an inland lake, with 
long arms extending eastward to Lake Worth, Biscayne Bay or the ocean. 
These lands are largely sand or marl. Making out from this vast body of 
over-flowed lands (four million acres) are streams of gi'eater or less propor- 
tions that have broken through the ridge of rock and pine land lying be- 
tween Lake Worth, Biscayne Bay and the ocean. 

From the northern boundary of the original Dade County on the east 
side of Lake Worth, extending southward to Cape Florida, is a ridge of 
pine land interspersed with strips of hammock and in some places flat 
woods or saw grass lands, covered with a growth of mangi'ove, a specie of 
the Banyan tree. In the vicinity of Fort Lauderdale and Miami there were 
and are some of the largest tropical hammocks in the United States. These 
are now fast disappearing in the march of civilization. In the place of the 
beautiful hammocks, magnificent homes have been built. Going south fi'om 
Miami, the western shore of Biscayne Bay is lined with a wall of rock sev- 
eral feet in height, and many of these "bluffs" have been purchased by 
wealthy men and converted into palatial homes. Going still further south, 
the bluffs disappear and the flat woods and saw grass lands extend down 
to the shore, while to the west there is a long line of rocky pine land ex- 
tending west to the Everglades. 

The first settlements at the north line of the original county were 
Jupiter, Juno, Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Among the first settlers 
at Palm Beach were E. N. Dimmick and family, George Lainhart, William 
Lainhart and a Mr. McCormick. The people living in the north part of old 
Dade County became dissatisfied with being connected with Miami and the 
southern part of the county, and began an active campaign to divorce the 
northern part of the county from the southern portion, which resulted in an 
election being called to register their desire. In this they were successful. 
The legislature of 1909 passed an act creating Palm Beach County. This 
divorced the northern portion of original Dade County, reaching south to a 
point a few miles north of Fort Lauderdale. Again, dissension arose and 
the people living in and around Fort Lauderdale became dissatisfied and de- 
manded that another slice be taken off. An election was held July 8, 1913, 
and in 1915 Broward County was created, being taken from Dade, leaving 
the present Dade County, with Miami as the county seat. Many people 
were discouraged by the taking of these two counties from the original 
Dade. Some thought that the death knell of the county had been sounded, 
but Dade County put on new life and has developed more rapidly than 
before. 

14 




&^m.\mmri^ 




Fort Dallas in Early Days 




Fort Dallas. 1921 



Early Settlers 

In 1856 William P. Wagner, of Charleston, South Carolina, arrived 
here and took up a homestead of 40 acres near where the new Allapattah 
school house now stands. He did not take up 160 acres because he thought 
40 acres of rock land was all he wanted. In 1858 Joseph William Wagner, 
also of Charleston, South Carolina, took up a homestead, and he is still a 
resident of the county, he and Mrs. Adam C. Richards being the only liv- 
ing survivors of those who settled here in 1858 or prior to that year. Adam 
C. Richards, still a resident of Miami, arrived here on January 26, 1875. 
Mr. Richards is familiar with the histoiy of the early settlement of the 
county and his knowledge of the pioneer days probably exceeds that of 
any other man. Mr. Richards was born in Ohio. When a young man he 
went to New York and from there sailed to South America. Returning to 
this countiy, he landed at Key West and from there took passage in a sail- 
boat for Miami, then Fort Dallas. Here he found the "end of the trail." 
At that time there wei"e only a few people here. Among them was William 
B. Brickell, who had purchased the Lewis grants on the south side of the 
Miami River. Mr. Brickell came from Cleveland, Ohio. Going to New York, 
he purchased a schooner and set sail for Fort Dallas. He brought building 
material and workmen and built a home in 1870 or 1871, after which he was 
joined by his family. G. E. Sturtevant, father of Mrs. Julia D. Tuttle, 
came to Miami some two years previous to the coming of Mrs. Tuttle and 
afterwards selected a homestead north of Little River. Governor William 
G. Gleason and family arrived hei'e about two years before the Brickell 
family and lived on the north side of the Miami River, later taking up a 
homestead north of Miami. Adam C. Richards reveals much interesting 
history of the early period. He married a daughter of William P. Wagner, 
and was one of the leaders in the pioneer epoch. For 14 years Mr. Wagner 
made coontie starch from the wild plant that grew in abundance. He says 
the manufacture of this starch was really a curse to the community. The 
new settlers took it up and during the season they would make up all the 
starch necessary for them to secure the bare necessities of life and then 
spend their time in idleness until it was time to again take up starchmak- 
ing. If it had not been for this wild coontie root the people would have 
been obliged to have cultivated the ground to raise food for their families. 
At that time hunting was also one of the principal occupations, deei*, wild 
turkey and other game being plentiful. The first houses built were log 
shacks, simply a cover from the storms, with no idea of conveniences. The 
people did not seem to want to work, but only desired to be left alone in the 
primeval forest, without work or care. Mr. Richards grew the first vege- 
tables that were ever grown here for the northern market. This was in 
1882. He was then employed by Colonel Ewing, superintendent of the 
Biscayne Bay Company. The vegetables were grown on the grounds now 
occupied by the Royal Palm Hotel and on Mr. Richards' place west of the 

15 



Miami River. This was the first experiment made here in growing food 
products and was successful. Mr. Richards planted tomatoes, beans and 
eggplant and shipped them to New York or New Orleans. The uncertainty 
of the shipments reaching their destination in good order was the principal 
drawback. He received as high as sixteen dollars per barrel for eggplant 
and seven dollars and a half per crate for beans. He states that the first 
fruit trees here of which he has any recollection were planted on the 
Fletcher place, near the mouth of the Miami River. These were Maumee 
apples, sapadillo, avocado, mango and orange trees. They made rapid 
growth and came into bearing early. In 1877 Mr. Richards was elected 
tax assessor and collector and has in his possession the original tax books. 
In 1888 Samuel Rhodes was elected treasurer. Rhodes settled on a home- 
stead at Coconut Grove and laid out a town called New Biscayne. When he 
became treasurer he did not know what to do with the county's money, as 
there were no banks here then. He secured a tin box and hid the treasure 
in a crevice of a rocky bluff near his home. A forest fire broke out, sweep- 
ing the surface of the country, and endangered the safety of Rhodes' vault. 
After the fire had spent its fury, the tin box was found unharmed and the 
county's wealth was saved. Mr. Richards brands as untrue the old, fa- 
miliar story of the stealing of the Dade County courthouse. He states that 
there was a regular election called and held for the removal of the court- 
house from Miami to Lake Worth and the result was that those who wanted 
the county seat removed won. At that time Al Field, Pat Lennan and 
others owned large tracts of land at Juno, on Lake Worth. In the call for 
the election no definite site was mentioned. Field, Lennan and the others 
wanted to locate the courthouse at Juno. The Dimmicks, Moore and other 
settlers residing at Lake Worth, now Palm Beach, thinking it would, of 
course, be located at Lake Worth, voted for the removal. The Juno crowd 
won, but lost what they expected in the making of a town. Juno did not de- 
velop, and just ten years afterward another election was called to remove 
the courthouse. West Palm Beach and Miami entered into a spirited con- 
test for the honor, which resulted in Miami being chosen for the county 
seat. Soon afterwards the books, papers and other county belongings were 
moved to Miami and an old building on the north shore of the Miami River 
was used for a courthouse until the building of the present structure. When 
the removal was made from Miami to Juno all the county documents were 
packed in one soap box. 

The Seminole Indians 

No history of the early settlement of Dade County would be complete 
without mention of the Seminole Indians. When Florida became a part of 
the United States the Indians were a menace to the peaceful development 
of the country. These troubles culminated in the Indian War, which cost 
1,500 lives, twenty millions of dollars and eight years of time. It was ended 
in 1842 by the banishment of the hostile red men into the fastness of the 

16 



Everglades. The Indians remaining in Florida after these wars were the 
Seniinoles. The original name was "Seminole," meaning "renegade," and 
was applied to the tribe by the Cherokees and Creeks, from whom they sep- 
arated. The taking of the decennial census among the Seminoles has been 
difficult, but there are believed to be about 400 members of this tribe in 
Florida. The Seminole is a familiar figure in Miami and Dade County, 
where their crude and gaudy dress attracts the attention of the sti-anger. 
In their half-cultivated fields they raise corn, pumpkins, potatoes, peas, 
chickens and hogs. They are expert fishers and kill what game they need. 
Five or six families usually camp under one head, each family having its 
own palmetto-thatched hut. The Seminole is healthy, industrious in his 
own way, moral and just. Devoted to tribal customs, he is usually kind to 
his women and children, and reverences the Great Spirit. 




17 




THE CITY OF MIAMI 

The First Awakening 

T had been a long, weary Rip Van Winkle sleep that enveloped 
this tropical section. The same unapproachable climate had 
prevailed for centuries, the same clear, sparkling waters had 
laved the shores of Biscayne Bay, with only now and then a 
visitor drifting in on his way to somewhere from some- 
where. In many cases some real enthusiasm was kindled in the breasts 
of these wanderers, but no permanent advance was made toward bring- 
ing the wonders of this tropical section before the public. For cen- 
turies it had been the same; flowers of rare beauty grew in pro- 
fusion and "blushed unseen," the same equable climate had prevailed for 
centuries, encouraging the growth of tropical and semi-tropical fruits 
and trees; Biscayne Bay, the most beautiful sheet of water in the world, 
had remained for centuries "unknown and unloved." The few who came 
here went their way singing the praises of this wonderful clime, but 
the story fell on deaf ears. With the coming of the Biscayne Bay Com- 
pany, efforts were made to let the world know of the wonderful place, 
but so far as bringing settlers here, the story again fell on deaf ears. 
Later the coming of Mrs. Julia D. Tuttle, of Cleveland, Ohio, who pur- 
chased the lands of the Biscayne Bay Company and settled here perma- 
nently, was a failure so far as bringing in settlers and developing the 
country. Seemingly i it did no good for Mrs. Tuttle to tell the wondrous 
story of the land of palms and sunshine. Now and then a settler would 
come in, but there was no general movement toward development. The 
Brickells, who had settled on the south side of the Miami River, also failed 
to bring people here. 

The world was singing the praises of Henry M. Flagler, who had com- 
pleted the Florida East Coast Railroad to Palm Beach. Mrs. Tuttle, be- 
lieving that the only thing needed to bring this country before the public 
was to induce Mr. Flagler to extend his road to Miami, made the trip to 
St. Augustine to interview Mr. Flagler and lay her plans before him. 
The trip was made in vain. She also wrote many letters to Mr. Flagler, 
offering to divide her large property holdings with him. Her persistent 
pleas were of no avail at that time. But Providence favored Mrs. Tuttle 
in her efforts. The great freeze of 1894-1895 devastated the old orange 
belt, making men of wealth paupers, destroying their groves and wiping 
out their fortunes. Mr. Flagler then remembered Mrs. Tuttle's story of 

18 



^'^I^& 




starting Miami. Breaking Ground for Royal Palm Hotel. March 15. 1S96 




Flagler Street. Miami, 1921 



this tropical country, and wondered if the hand of misfortune had fallen 
as heavily here as throughout the old orange belt. He went over the 
propositions made by Mrs. Tuttle and instructed his lieutenant, Mr. In- 
graham, to make a trip to Miami and investigate the conditions that then 
existed there. On arriving at Miami, Mr. Ingraham was not only sur- 
prised but delighted to find that the frost king had not reached here. He 
found flowers in full bloom and the foliage dark and green ; in fact, it was 
another world. Much depended upon his answer to his chief, as there 
were other conditions to be taken into consideration. He was delighted 
with the climatic conditions, but the impenetrable hammocks and the 
rocky pine lands entered his mind, and he wondered if these seemingly 
worthless lands could be subdued and brought into cultivation. As evi- 
dence that the frost had not reached Miami, a bouquet of flowers and 
foliage was gathered and sent to Mr. Flagler, and soon the order was 
given to extend the Florida East Coast Railroad to Miami. It is safe to 
say that the decision to extend the road to Miami was based on Mr. Ingra- 
ham's report. 

The report soon went out that the railroad would be extended to 
Miami as rapidly as men and money could do the work. This report was 
Miami's first awakening from its long sleep. Soon there was a hack 
line started from Palm Beach to Miami. Ferries had to be provided over 
the several water courses. Men began to arrive by the hundreds. The 
thousands who were out of work throughout the old orange belt flocked to 
Miami, and in a short time shacks and tents appeared. The bay was 
covered with sail boats, where men put up with ail kinds of inconveniences 
to be hei-e when the order was given for work to commence. At that time 
food was scarce, the Brickells having the only store in operation, and 
the influx of people was so great that it was almost impossible to get 
stocks to supply the demand. Days passed, weeks came and went, and 
yet there was no order for the work to commence. Many became almost 
desperate, as they had used up their little all in coming to Miami. Con- 
ditions were almost unbearable when the news came that Joseph A. 
McDonald, John B. Reilly, John Sewell and E. G. Sewell would arrive in 
Miami the next day (February 15, 1896), and that the work of building 
the Royal Palm Hotel would be commenced immediately. The spell was 
broken. Men became almost frantic with joy over the prospects of work. 
It was the dawn of another day. 

The Birth of a City 

Miami was incorporated as a city in 1896. It has the distinction of 
never having been a village or town, but was born a full-fledged city. The 
city's birthday was July 28, 1896. An election for city officers was held 
and John B. Reilly was chosen the first mayor, and Fred S. Morse, Joseph 
A. McDonald, Daniel Cosgrove and Walter S. Graham were elected council- 

19 



men, and Jack Graham city clerk. The settlement prior to this time 
had been known as Fort Dallas, the name of the military post main- 
tained here for many years during and following the Indian wars. When 
the city was incorporated there was considerable discussion as to the 
name for the city. Many desired to name the new city "Flagler," in honor 
of Henry M. Flagler, but it was finally decided to take the name Miami, 
which is a Seminole Indian word meaning "Sweet Water," and was applied 
by the Seminoles to the river which flows through the city. The growth 
of the city since its incorporation has been phenomenal. In 1895 there 
were but two families residing in what is now Miami. Today the city has 
a permanent population of forty-two thousand people, and this is aug- 
mented during the tourist season by a transient population of from fifty 
to a hundred thousand. Miami^is situated on Biscayne Bay and the At- 
lantic Ocean, and is 366 miles south of Jacksonville, on the main line of 
the Florida East Coast Railroad. It is the county seat of Dade County, 
the southermost county on the mainland of the United States. It is the 
southern terminus of the Dixie Highway. Below the city is the Ingraham 
Highway, and crossing the Everglades westerly is the Tamiami Trail, 
now being constructed, which will connect the Atlantic Ocean at Miami 
with the Gulf of Mexico. Miami Canal, running to Lake Okeechobee, 
connects at the south by way of the Miami River with Biscayne Bay. 
The Florida East Coast Railroad has its shop yards in Miami, and the 
city is the center of all its operations on the southern section of the road. 

Mayors of Miami 

The following named men have presided over the destinies of the city 
of Miami since its incorporation: John B. Reilly, four teiTns; J. E. 
Lummus, three terms; John Sewell, four terms; Frank H. Wharton, two 
terms ; Rodman Smith, one term (died in office) ; John W. Watson, two 
terms ; Parker A. Henderson, one term ; W. P. Smith, one term. 

In 1921 the electorate of Miami voted to adopt the commission- 
manager form of government. On January 21, 1921, a committee of fifteen 
was chosen to draft a new city charter. This charter was submitted to 
the voters in June and its adoption ratified. An election was then called 
for July 12, 1921, for the election of five commissioners, who, upon their 
election, would choose a manager for the city. The commissioners elected 
at this election were J. E. Lummus, E. C. Romfh, J. I. Wilson, C. D. Leffler, 
and James H. Oilman, who immediately assumed their duties. Col. C. S. 
Coe was named city manager. 

Eari.y Settlers 
Here is given a partial list of the early settlers of Miami — those who 
came here among the first and who have stood strong and stalwart in ad- 
vancing the interests of the city. There are perhaps others who should be 
mentioned in this connection, but their names cannot now be recalled. 

20 




Flagler Street and Second Avenue North. 1900, Site of First National Bank 




First Automobile Parade in Miami — 1906 



Mrs. Julia D. Tuttle came here from Cleveland, Ohio, in 1870, and pur- 
chased the property of the Biscayne Bay Company. 

Mr. and Mrs. William B. Brickell, with their family, came here from 
Cleveland, Ohio, in 1870, and Mr. Brickell purchased the Lewis grants. 

Joseph A. McDonald arrived here February 15, 1896, to superintend 
the work of Henry M. Flagler. 

John B. Reilly came in 1896 as bookkeeper and cashier for Joseph A. 
McDonald. 

John Sewell came here from Kissimmee in 1896 as foreman for the 
Flagler interests. 

E. G. Sewell came from Kissimmee in 1896, and, in company with his 
brother, John Sewell, opened the first clothing and shoe store in Miami. 

Frank T. Budge came from Titusville in 1896 and opened a hardware 
store. 

J. E. L'ummus came in 1896 and opened a general store. 

Jack Graham arrived in 1896 and was elected the first city clerk. 

Isidor Cohen was among the 1896 arrivals and opened the first clothing- 
store on the south side of the Miami River. 

John W. Watson came here in 1896 from Kissimmee and built and 
opened a hardware store on Foui'teenth street. 

E. L. Brady, of Titusville, came in 1896 and opened a groceiy store. 

L. C. Oliver came from Titusville in 1896 and opened a lumber yard. 

E. V. Blackman came here from Rockledge in 1896 and organized the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Mr. and Mrs. Salem Graham arrived from Palatka in 1896 and opened 
the first hotel in Miami in a house leased from William B. Brickell. 

C. F. Sulzner, of St. Augustine, came to Miami in 1896, before the rail- 
road had been extended. 

William M. Brown, of Titusville, arrived here in 1896 and, with his 
associates, opened the first bank here, the Bank of Bay Biscayne. 

Fred S. Morse, a Bostonian, came here a year or two before the rail- 
road was extended to Miami. 

In 1898 Mr. and Mrs. E. B. Douglas came here from Jacksonville and 
opened a dry goods and millinery store for Cohen & Friedman. 

E. C. Romfh came here in 1896 and secured a position with L. C. 
Oliver, later taking a position with the Bank of Bay Biscayne. 

Judge H. F. Atkinson came here from Altoona, Florida, in January, 
1897, and opened a law office. 

Samuel A. Belcher came to Miami before the railroad had been ex- 
tended here and took up a homestead west of Miami. 

J. H. Cheatham, accompanied by his brother, Thomas Cheatham, ar- 
rived here from Bartow, July 16, 1898. 

Charles T. McCrimmon (deceased) was among the 1896 arrivals. 

John Frohock, former sheriff, arrived here in August, 1896. 

E. A. Waddell, who originally came from Canada, arrived in 

21 



Miami in 1894. He came before there was any movement toward opening 
up this section. 

T. N. Gautier came from West Palm Beach to Miami in 1896. 

Dr. and Mrs. Jackson were among the first to arrive here in 1896, com- 
ing from Bronson, Florida. The second year of the opening of the Royal 
Palm Hotel Dr. Jackson was appointed house physician of that hostelry. 

Mr. and Mrs. Gus Mills came with the Flagler crowd in 1896, and Mr. 
Mills had charge of the painting of the Royal Palm Hotel. 

George B. Romfh was among the 1896 crowd. He was bookkeeper for 
C. L. Oliver and later entered the employ of E. L. Brady Company. Mr. 
Romfh established the Miami Grocery. 

Captain J. F. Jaudon came here from Kissimmee in the fall of 1895. 
He opened a produce house and later was assessor of Dade County for sev- 
eral terms. 

Harry C. Budge, secretary-treasurer of the E. B. Douglas Company, 
came here from Titusville February 1, 1896. 

Robert R. Taylor, attorney, came here in 1896 from Jacksonville. 

Dr. R. E. Chafer took up his residence here July 2, 1896, coming from 
Kissimmee and opening up the first dental office here. 

John Seybold arrived in Miami April 28, 1896, as a journeyman baker 
and is now president of the Seybold Baking Company. 

Walter S. Graham and family came here from Titusville in 1896. Mr. 
Graham, in company with William Featherly, founded the first newspaper 
here, the Miami Metropolis. Mr. Graham was a lawyer of high standing 
and compiled the first ordinances of the City of Miami. He was one of the 
first city councilmen. 

J. K. Dorn came here among the early arrivals. 

Edwin Nelson, of Melbourne, came here in 1896. 

Captain Charles Thompson was among the very early settlers here. 
Captain Thompson made a catch of the largest fish caught in the southern 
waters. The fish was exhibited in almost every city of the country. 

William Burdine and family came to Miami in 1896, as did also Mrs. 
Eva P. Quarterman and family. Mr. Burdine opened a small store on Ave- 
nue D, and later leased a much larger store on Twelfth street. After the 
death of William Burdine the business was reorganized under the name of 
Burdine's Sons, now one of the leading department stores south of Jack- 
sonville. 

Early Buildings 

The first building erected in Miami was a residence and ofl^ce built by 
J. A. McDonald at the corner of the Boulevard and Fourteenth street. The 
second residence built here was built by a Mrs. Blackburn on the ground 
where the Federal building now stands. The Royal Palm Hotel was the 
next structure erected. The excavation for the foundation was begun early 
in April, 1896. Joseph A. McDonald, who had charge of the Flagler work, 

22 




Brickell's Point from Avenue D Bridge. 19C5 





Si :s :: isiis » \s\ si . 

I s! i: '.i ;si!: s: ;si is % 

Water Front. Miami. 1921 




built the Biscayne Hotel in 1896, a solid brick structure costing about 
$50,000. Frank T. Budge erected a three-story store building on the north 
side of Twelfth street to take the place of his first wooden structure on 
Avenue D. J. E. Lummus erected a concrete building for his groceiy busi- 
ness after his first building had been destroyed by fire. The Townleys 
erected a store building for Cohen & Friedman, of Jacksonville. E. L. 
Brady & Company erected a brick store building at the corner of Twelfth 
street and Avenue D. The Bank of Bay Biscayne occupied one of the two 
ground floors until the bank purchased their present site. The Model Land 
Company erected a two-stoiy brick structure at the corner of Twelfth street 
and Avenue C, with two store rooms. D. M. Connoly built the Everglade 
Hotel, a wooden structure at the corner of Fourteenth street and Avenue 
C, where the Gralynn Hotel now stands. Lake & Goodwin built the first 
ice and cold storage plant on the north side of Avenue D, near the spur 
track that leads to the Royal Palm Hotel. Mrs. Julia D. Tuttle built the 
Miami Hotel on Avenue D. The hotel was two stories and contained 200 
rooms. It was destroyed by fire in 1898. Losley & Renecker erected a two- 
story wooden building on Avenue D in 1896. The ground floor was to be 
used for a saloon, but there was a clause in the deed that prohibited this 
and suit was brought against them and before the suit was settled the build- 
ing was destroyed by fire. 

Miami Today 

To draw a pen picture of the City of Miami today, with its 40,000 or 
more inhabitants, with its long rows of up-to-date business blocks, its pa- 
latial homes and magnificent hotels and apartments, is beyond the descrip- 
tive power of even the most talented writer. It is today a cosmopolitan 
city, thriving with commercialism and prosperity. Climate, location and a 
progressive citizenship have made Miami the wonder and admiration of 
the world and given it high rank among the resort cities of Europe and 
America. It is difficult to convince the newcomer that this great transfor- 
mation had been accomplished within so short a time, for 25 years ago the 
location of the now famed city was a wilderness. According to the late 
United States census the City of Miami increased in population in the last 
ten years 440 per cent and Dade County 229 per cent, establishing a rec- 
ord unknown to any other city or county in the United States. This gives 
Miami a permanent population of about 42,000. 

Miami is the most popular tourist center of all the South. The city 
sprang into existence with the opening of the Royal Palm Hotel, one of the 
largest and most popular of the chain of hotels of the Florida East Coast 
Railroad Company. Simultaneously with the opening of the Royal Palm, 
the Hotel Biscayne was opened to the public, and since then, year after 
year, large and modern hotels have been erected that in point of beauty and 
convenience are not surpassed by any other city of the world. Among the 
leading hotels are the Royal Palm, Halcyon Hotel, Hotel Urmey, The Gray- 

23 



lynn, the McAllister, Taniiami, the McKinnon, Pershing, Green Tree Inn, 
the Alta Vista, the Plaza, and San Carlos. In spite of the fact that a 
great number of modern hotels have been and are being built, there was a 
shortage of accommodations for the throng of tourists, and beautiful apart- 
ment houses were erected by the hundreds ; rooming houses, like Jonah's 
gourd, spi-ang up in every direction, and private families opened their doors 
to the "stranger within our gates." The cry is still heard for more accom- 
modations and every effort is being made to reach a point where it can be 
said "there is room for all." 

Within the city limits there are about 50 miles of paved streets and 
many more miles of concrete sidewalks. Contracts have been let for many 
additional miles of street paving and sidewalks. The postoffice and Federal 
building were erected but a few years ago and at that time it was thought 
that ample provision had been made for years to come. When the Federal 
building was erected it was said to be the largest and most expensive build- 
ing ever erected by the government in a city of the size of Miami at that 
time, but the rapid growth of the city has rendered it inadequate. To help 
out the situation, four sub-stations have been established, but even these do 
not fill the pressing demands upon the department. A contract has been let 
for the erection of another postoffice building, located near the depot of the 
Florida East Coast Railroad. A postoffice has also been established at 
Miami Beach, which has, in a measure, relieved the situation. 

The city is noted for the elegance and beauty of its homes. There is 
probably no city of similar size in the United States where such lavish ex- 
penditures has been made on residential properties. The shore of Biscayne 
Bay is one continuous line of concrete mansions, reaching to the south bank 
of the Miami River. North of Miami, to Lemon City, is thickly built up 
with homes that would do credit to New York, Philadelphia or other metro- 
politan cities. The Charles Deering estate, one of the most valuable private 
estates in America, lies just south of the city, on Biscayne Bay. There are 
six large modern school buildings within the city limits. Teachers of na- 
tional reputation have said that Miami and Dade County have the most 
complete and modern school system and the best buildings of any county in 
the United States. Miami has, from the beginning, been noted as a city of 
churches. Nearly every denomination is represented and many handsome 
church edifices adorn the city. There are six banks in Miami, with total 
deposits of over $20,000,000. The mercantile establishments vie in size 
and quality of merchandise carried with cities of 100,000 inhabitants. There 
are five ice and cold storage plants in the city. The public utilities of the 
city include telephone, gas, water, electric light and power. A street rail- 
way traverses a part of the principal streets, connecting with Miami Beach 
by way of the Causeway across Biscayne Bay, making a loop on the Miami 
Beach side, so every part of that city has easy access to the line. A ten- 
minute schedule is maintained both summer and winter. There are sev- 

24 




Grapefruit Grove Near Miami 




Post Office and Federal Building. Miami 



eral bus lines running north, south and west from Miami, so that all the 
outlying towns are easily reached several times daily. To the north, a bus 
line runs as far as West Palm Beach. Miami has one of the most up-to-date 
fire departments in the state. There are three stations, the Central on 
Flagler street, the Riverside on West Flagler street, and one in the north 
part of the city. Each station is fully equipped with the latest electric fire- 
fighting equipment. The city can boast of the finest "great white way" 
lighting system in the southland. At present this "great white way" ex- 
tends over the principal portion of Flagler street, Miami avenue and First 
street, northwest. 

The Causeway, leading from Miami to Miami Beach, spanning Bis- 
cayne Bay, is one of the greatest and most expensive works of its kind ever 
undertaken. The Causeway was built by Dade County at a cost of about 
$1,000,000. It has two double driveways, a street car track and room for a 
sidewalk. It has two draws, one on the east side and one on the west side. 
The Causeway is about three and one-half miles in lengih. The Collins 
bridge also spans Biscayne Bay, a short distance north of the Causeway. It 
has recently been taken over by a company who are building four islands 
in the bay, all of which will connect with the Collins bridge. There has 
been two islands thrown up in Biscayne Bay and bridges from the islands 
connect with the Causeway. On these new made islands several very hand- 
some residences have been erected and nearly all the lots on them have been 
sold to parties who will build winter homes. 

Miami has become an important wholesale center. Many of the large 
wholesale establishments of Jacksonville have either moved their business 
here or have established large branch houses. With the completion of the 
deep water project the city will become one of the most important ports of 
entry on the south Atlantic coast. The city has built a large warehouse on 
the municipal dock, which has already proven too small to care for the rap- 
idly increasing domestic and foreign trade, and is now preparing to expend 
$400,000 in enlarging the warehouse and extending the docks. Trade be- 
tween Miami and Nassau has rapidly increased within recent years, requir- 
ing the services of several boat lines. South American countries are be- 
ginning to recognize Miami as their nearest poil of entry and are anxiously 
awaiting the establishment of steamer lines to and from their ports. Re- 
cently Miami has become an important teiTninal for domestic and foreign 
hydroplanes, with the United States mail service to Nassau, Bimini and 
Havana. This service is to be greatly increased during the winter of 
1921-22. 

Miami has an annual mean temperature of 74.6 degrees, the most 
equable climate of any city in America. The city is the site of an experi- 
ment station of the United States Department of Agriculture, where the 
cultivation of sub-tropical plants is carried on. 

This brief chronicle of the City of Miami in the good year 1921 is neces- 
sarily incomplete. The city is still in its swaddling clothes, a lusty infant. 

25 



whose destiny none may yet foresee. Its birth was propitious — a city born 
in a day — and its growth and development is without parallel in the history 
of American cities. The wave of development begun in 1896 has increased 
each year into new and larger proportions. The future of the city is firmly 
established, and its growth in the years to come will surpass the enviable 
record already made. When we say that Miami is the most beautiful city 
on this continent we are but voicing the opinions of men and women who 
have traveled the "wide world over" and who at last have found here their 
"haven of rest." 




26 



F 



CHURCHES 

ROM the beginning the people of Miami have been known 
as a church-going people. It is not stating the fact too 
strongly to say that one of the inducements that has brought 
desirable people to the city has been the fact that the 
people as a whole are noted for their high standing in 
moral and religious activities. Perhaps no city in the country is made 
up by a people so largely imbued with strong religious tendencies. Mr. 
Flagler, early in the history of Miami, realized that church organizations 
were one of the necessary foundations on which to build a city. Conse- 
quently he made provision for the gift of two lots to each denomination, 
one for a church building and one for a parsonage. Mr. Flagler was a 
member of the Presbyterian church, the son of a Presbyterian minister, 
and his first thought was to provide for a Presbyterian church and or- 
ganization. He set aside two lots at the corner of Eleventh Street and 
Avenue B on which to erect a church building, but for some reason he 
changed his plan, after the excavation had been commenced, and selected 
two lots at the corner of Twelfth (now Flagler) Street and Short Street. 
On these lots Mr. Flagler built a very handsome church edifice, which he 
later deeded to the Presbyterian church. 

The Presbyterian church was the first church organized here. Their 
first place of worship was a tent-like house at the corner of Avenue D 
(now Miami Avenue), near the spur track of the Florida East Coast Rail- 
road leading to the Royal Palm Hotel. This was used by the denomina- 
tion as a place of worship for a year or two. Whenever the Presbyterian 
tent-house was not in use by their denomination, the use of it was freely 
given to other denominations who had no place for services. This was 
not only a fraternal and gracious spirit, but a typical illustration of the 
earnest Christian spirit of the people. Not only was the tent used for 
religious service, but it was opened as a reading room for the public 
and made a gathering place for the "homeless" people then here. Papers 
and magazines were donated for this purpose. In 1897 Rev. W. W. Faris 
was called to the pastorate and continued until he retired as pastor emeri- 
tus in 1919. Dr. Faris rendered valiant service to the community not 
only as a minister but as a pioneer citizen. 

A short time after the Presbyterians organized here, and laid claim 
to the fact that their church was the first to organize, the Congrega- 
tionalists came in, the Rev. Plaz being the district representative. For a 
short time there was some conflict between the representatives of the 

27 



two denominations, which finally resulted in the withdrawal of the Con- 
gregationalists from this field. 

The Roman Catholic church was also organized here about this time 
and lots were secured at tlie corner of Northeast First Avenue and North- 
west First Street by Joseph A. McDonald. Soon after the organization 
of the church, steps were taken to erect a church edifice. The Roman 
Catholics were very aggressive in their work and soon erected their 
church building and priest's house. The late Joseph A. McDonald and 
Mrs. McDonald were devout members of the church and to them is largely 
due the successful raising of the funds for the buildings. Some years 
later the Catholics built a convent school on the rear of the lot occupied 
by the Church of the Holy Name, and the school was in charge of Sister 
Eubhemia. The school building is a large two-story structure. From 
the beginning, this school has been most successful, the pupils not only 
coming from the Catholic families but many Protestant families as well. 
The Roman Catholics are now preparing to erect a new church building 
for the Church of the Holy Name, which when completed will be one 
of the finest and most complete Catholic churches in the South. 

The late Mrs. Julia D. Tuttle was a devout Episcopalian and early in 
the awakening of Miami gave to the Episcopal church lots at the corner 
of Northeast Second Avenue and Second Street on which to build a house 
of worship for her chosen denomination. A movement was then started 
to raise funds for building a church edifice, and the movement was car- 
ried on with much earnestness by the eight women members of that 
faith. Mrs. Tuttle, in addition to giving the lots for the building, was a 
contributor to the church building fund. Among the leading members 
were Mrs. Curtis W. Gardner, Fred S. Morse, and Mr. and Mrs. Frank 
T. Budge. Several years later the oi-iginal church building was removed 
and a modern concrete edifice and rectory was erected in its stead, which 
is an ornament to the city. 

The First Methodist Episcopal Church of Miami was organized in 
1896, the Rev. E. V. Blackman being its pastor. The first organization 
was made up of about thirty members. Among the prominent charter 
members were Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Nelson, Mr. and Mrs. Robbins, and 
Mrs. J. I. Wilson. The Methodists had for some time quite a checkered 
career and worshipped wherever a place was open to them. The Presby- 
terian tent was used when not occupied by its own denomination. For 
a time services were held in a store building at or near the corner of 
Northwest First Street, near Avenue D (Miami Avenue). The Methodists 
were aggressive in their work. The residents of the city at that time 
were made up largely of young men who had no home and who lived in 
boarding houses or tents. At North Miami, just outside the city limits, 
was a resort of unsavory reputation, where a large number of these 
young men gathered on Saturday nights and where drinking, gambling 

28 




Presbytery of East Florida, at Miami Ch.urch-Tent. Anril, 1898. 




First Presbyterian Church, Miami. Occupied in February, 1900 



and other evils were carried on. Rev. Blackman conceived the idea of 
holding a song service on Saturday night, and the members of his church 
encouraged the movement by their presence and hearty cooperation. The 
song service proved to be a success, and each Saturday night the room 
was filled with the "homeless" young men and others. All entered into 
the song service with zeal. A short time was spent in religious talks, 
and thirty to forty minutes in getting acquainted. Many young men on 
their way to North Miami heard the singing, came to the song service, 
and spent at least one evening in the week where a religious and moral 
atmosphere surrounded them. Later it was thought desirable to secure 
lots and build a church edifice and parsonage. A request was sent to 
J. E. Ingraham, vice-president of the Florida East Coast Railroad, for a 
donation of two lots for this purpose. The lots granted were at the comer 
of First Street and First Avenue, Northeast. When the plans for the 
church building and parsonage were completed it was found that the two 
lots would not be sufficient for both buildings. The plans were sent to 
Mr. Ingraham with the explanation that it would be impossible to carry 
out the plans on only two lots. Mr. Ingraham replied that it was Mr. 
Flagler's plan to give to each church organization two lots and that he 
could not change that plan without consulting _Mr. Flagler. The writer 
wrote to Mr. Flagler, explaining the situation, and among my most treas- 
ured letters is the reply of Mr. Flagler in donating the third lot. Mr. 
Flagler told of his original plan to give to each church two lots, which 
he thought was liberal and reasonable. "However," he added, "you have 
been in my employ a long time, and knowing you as I do I will make an 
exception in this case. The plans for the building and the parsonage 
are entirely acceptable to me, and I will instruct Mr. Ingraham to make 
the deeds to the three lots as requested by you." The foundation of the 
church building was laid soon afterward, and a subscription list circulated 
for funds, with satisfactory results. Later the church sold this property 
and purchased two lots at_the corner of Avenue B and Ninth Street and 
built the White Temple, their present edifice, one of the largest and most 
complete houses of worship in Miami. 

The Baptist church was organized here in 1896. John Sewell, being 
among the first to come to Miami and being an energetic member of the 
Baptist church, is largely responsible for the organization of the Baptist 
church in Miami. Rev. J. R. Jester, a student at Mercer University, 
was sent here to organize the church, and in Mr. Sewell he found a 
hearty co-worker. After canvassing the town they found sixteen people 
willing to join the new church, and immediate steps were taken to per- 
fect an organization. The following named persons were among the 
members secured: John Sewell, J. W. Arnold, E. E. Padgett, Mrs. Rosa 
Padgett, C. H. Height, J. H. Cashwell, Mrs. M. M. Cashwell, J. M. Strange, 
J. J. Dykes, H. W. Padgett, J. L. DeVaughn, Mrs. M. P. Amason, Mrs. 

29 



Emma Strange, and W. H. Edwards. This was the nucleus around which 
the Baptist church built. The church building was commenced in 1901, 
the work being completed as rapidly as the building committee could 
secure the funds. It was a wooden structure, with a comfortable audi- 
torium. Rev. W. E. Stanton, of San Mateo, was called to the pastorate 
and remained until 1910, when Rev. John A. Wray was called, remaining 
until 1916. Rev. Wray was a very able pastor, and the church flourished 
under his care. Rev. J. L. White, the present pastor, followed Rev. Wray, 
and has accomplished a wonderful work in Miami. His first work was 
to build a new building, and his efforts resulted in the erection of a mod- 
ern concrete building costing about $160,000. The old church build- 
ing was moved to another site on Avenue B, remodeled and named the 
Stanton Memorial Church, in memory of Dr. W. E. Stanton, who served 
the church long and faithfully and who was loved not only by the mem- 
bers of the Baptist church but by all who knew him. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was organized in Miami in 
1898, by the Rev. Fred C. Blackburn, and a wooden church building was 
erected at the corner of Northeast First Avenue. The Congregation grew 
rapidly, and in 1919-1920 the old building was removed and a large and 
beautiful church building was erected in its place, giving ample room for 
its increasing congregation. Among those who were foremost in the 
work of organization were Dr. James M. Jackson and T. N. Gautier and 
family. 

There have been numerous other church organizations perfected in 
Miami in recent years, in keeping with the rapid growth and develop- 
ment of the city along other lines. The greater part of these new organiza- 
tions have houses of worship and stated pastors. At present the Con- 
gregationalists are erecting a handsome brick church building on Second 
Avenue Northeast. Rev. J. N. Ward is pastor. 

At Coconut Grove the Episcopalians organized early and have a very 
complete chapel in which services are held. The Methodist Episcopal 
church also has a good organization there. In 1920 the Congregationalists 
built a large and handsome church edifice of native stone. 

At Miami Beach a Congregational church was organized in 1920, and 
in 1920-1921 the congregation built a commodious and beautiful church 
edifice. 

At Silver Palm the Baptists and Methodist Episcopal, South, have or- 
ganizations, and each has comfortable houses of worship. 

At Homestead the Methodist Episcopal, South, organized several 
years ago, has a modern house of worship. 

At Lemon City the Baptists and the Methodist Episcopal, South, have 
strong congregations and each has comfortable buildings. 

The Miami Young Men's^ Christian Association and the Miami Young 
Women's Christian Association are militant organizations of great in- 
fluence. Both associations have modern, concrete homes, and both are 
centrally located. 

30 



DADE COUNTY SCHOOLS 

By Prof. R. E. IIaix 




HE first teacher employed in the public schools of Dade County 
was a sort of a "Pooh Bah." He was county superintendent of 
public instruction and principal and faculty of three or four 
schools at one and the same time. This teacher was employed 
in the early eighties, by the state superintendent of schools, to 
go from place to place and teach the children in their homes a week at a 
time. He received a salary of about $40 a month, out of which he paid 
all his living, traveling and office expenses. Soon, however, as communities 
grew, rough frame shacks were provided and regular schools opened up 
for business, Juno, Lemon City and Coconut Gi'ove being among the first. 
Judge A. E. Heyser, who now lives in Miami, was the first regular county 
superintendent and Miss Ada Merritt and R. E. McDonald were pioneer 
principals. 

A well-defined and earnest desire of the early settlers of Dade County 
that their children should be given a common school training was the foun- 
dation of Dade County's present splendid school system. The early growth 
and development of the system was especially fostered by the competent 
leadership of Z. T. Merritt, who was superintendent for eight years, be- 
ginning his incumbency in 1897. About this time Miami's first public 
school was begun under the capable R. E. McDonald. The end of the Mer- 
ritt administration saw Dade County with some 25 schools, stretching from 
Stuart, 105 miles to the north, to Silver Palms, on the south. Each com- 
munity had comfoi-table school houses and they were equipped with modern 
desks and furnishings, where good teachers were employed for a term of 
fi"om seven to eight months. 

The writer was installed superintendent of schools in January, 1905, 
and held the office continuously for 16 years. Probably the greatest prob- 
lem that confronted him and the boards was the task of providing schools 
for the most rapidly growing county in the United tates, and incident to 
such growth the sad lack of funds. On an average, the school population 
during these 16 years has doubled every two and one-half years, while, as 
a rule, the tax assessment increased from 10 to 15 per cent. This left a de- 
ficit each year, which was greatly increased by the larger salaries paid 
teachers and the large increase in the cost of every phase of school opera- 
tions. From time to time the addition of cultural and vocational courses 
have been made, and by consolidation of several small schools into one 
large central school, Dade County has today a school system second to none 

31 



anywhere in America. A history of Dade County schools would not be 
complete without some reference to the school board members, and the 
schools as they are today are monuments to the earnest and faithful men 
who served as the administrators of Dade County's school system. W. M. 
Burdine, W. W. Paris, H. A. Pennock, A. Leight Monroe, G. A. Douglas and 
P. C. Bush, all served several terms and gave their time and energies un- 
selfishly to the business end of the schools. 

It may be interesting to note that during the past 16 years every 
school building in every district has been replaced by a modern concrete 
structure. In Miami, in 1904, the only school was a four-room frame build- 
ing on Avenue C, where the Central Grammar School now stands. When 
that building was erected in 1909 a howl went up. Some people said "Why 
that building will last Miami 50 years!" As a matter of fact it was crowded 
almost by the time it was finished. 

Dade County has no reason to be ashamed of her schools. Graduates 
from the high schools are admitted to standard universities everywhere and 
their worth is eveiywhere recognized. 

A word about the County Agricultural School may not be amiss. From 
a vision and a dream in the mind of one man. Dr. J. G. DuPuis, has come 
into being the first Agricultural High School in Plorida and one of the first 
in the whole country. With Federal aid, under the provisions of the Smith- 
Hughes law, this school is now a congressional district school and is doing 
a work along vocational lines that makes it a beacon light to this section of 
Florida. 



The above historical sketch of the public schools of Dade County was 
written by Prof. R. E. Hall, who was the capable superintendent of public 
instruction for 16 years. To Prof. Hall and his board the people of Miami 
and Dade County are under many obligations for the present high stand- 
ing of the public schools and for the class of school buildings which the 
county now has. Judge A. E. Heyser and Z. T. Merritt started the work 
for a high grade system of schools throughout the county and both of these 
gentlemen did heroic work in the interests of the schools in the early days. 

When it is taken into consideration that 25 years ago there were no 
public schools in what now constitutes Dade County, the rapid growth and 
development of our schools indicates not only the growth of population but 
also the class of people that came here in the early days. The first thought 
of the newcomers was a public school. If there were no schools there couIH 
be no great increase of population from other portions of the country. The 
people demanded the schools and the county furnished them, but it has been 
a difficult task to build school houses as rapidly as the demand increased. 
Captain C. J. Rose came here from Ohio and took up a homestead a few 
miles west of Miami. He immediately commenced talking "school." The 
few people then here did not favor his idea that the children must have 
school privileges and he had a hard fight to get them of his mind. Finally, 

32 




Central School Building, Miami 




Lemon City School Building 



he, with others, went to the beach where there was plenty of wreck lumber 
and brought it ashore, carting it into the back country, where they built a 
shack and called it a school house. The first public school in Miami was 
held in a building at the corner of First street, N. W., and Miami Avenue, 
with Prof. R. E. McDonald as principal. The school opened with about 20 
pupils. It is safe to say that in no other part of Florida, or any other state, 
has there been such a wonderful development of the public school system 
as there has been in Miami and Dade County. The school buildings in 
Miami and in all the country districts are mai-vels of beauty. These build- 
ings are all built of concrete and are as near fire-pi'oof as can be. Each 
building is furnished with a well-selected library of text and reference 
books, containing 300 volumes or more. Dr. Charles T. Gawn, ex-president 
of the Central Michigan State Normal School, had this to say of the Dade 
County schools: "In the course of many years' experience I have come in 
contact with rural education in practically all sections of the United States, 
and after visiting every school in Dade County I am prepared to state 
somewhat dogmatically that there is no other county in the United States 
that can show a better rural school organization and equipment." He also 
made the same statement in regard to the city schools. 

Twenty-five years ago the Dade County School Board did not own a dol- 
lar's worth of propei'ty, now the total valuation of the school properties in 
Miami and the country districts amounts to the magnificent sum of 
$1,334,121.96. 




33 



CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS AND CLUBS 

INIiAMi Chambek of Commerce 



T 



HE Miami Chamber of Commerce is the outcome of the former 
Miami Board of Trade, which was organized early in the history 
of Miami. In the early days of Miami the Board of Trade was 
active in the work of advancing the interests of Miami, taking 
an important part in the first movement to secure deep water 
for the city. As the city gi^ew there was a call for a stronger organi- 
zation — an organization in which the larger portion of the business 
men would be interested. A mass meeting was called, and on January 
1, 1915, the Board of Trade was re-organized and the Miami Chamber of 
Commerce launched. G. D. Brossier was elected the first president and 
George Paddock served the chamber as secretary. In 1916 E. G. Sewell 
was chosen president, and with the exception of the season of 1919-1920, 
when E. A. Roberts served as president, Mr. Sewell has directed the 
destinies of the organization up to the present time, with the probabilities 
that he has a life position if he will accept the honor. He has been ably 
assisted by Guy W. Livingston, managing secretary. After the re- 
organization, the Chamber of Commerce put on new life and entered into 
broader fields of usefulness. Each year has marked the growth of mem- 
bership until there are now 745 active members. Among the great 
activities of the chamber, under the direction of President Sewell, has 
been the work accomplished in securing deep water for Miami. Mr. Sewell 
has been active in this work, making numerous trips to Washington 
in the interest of this project and given generously of his own funds 
to forward the movement. It is obviously impossible to recount here 
the many ways and means used by the Chamber of Commerce to ad- 
vertise Miami to the world. Suffice to say, these methods have been 
largely President Sewell's methods. President Sewell has been a strong 
advocate of spending money for advertising Miami. Last year the Cham- 
ber of Commerce spent $146,000 in advertising. For several years they 
have broujg-ht Pryor's Band hei'e to give daily concerts in Royal Palm Park. 
It was largely through the work and influence of the Chamber of Com- 
merce that the annual motor boat regattas were held here. It was Presi- 
dent Sewell's idea of holding the Palm Fete at the beginning of the season 
of 1920. The chamber held numerous councils regarding the holding of 
this festival, but President Sewell carried the day with a strong hand. The 
Palm Fete was a great success and proved of inestimable value in advertis- 

34 



ing Miami. It will probably continue as an annual event. Pi'esident 
Sewell is a thorough believer in newspaper advertising and advertise- 
ments of Miami appear in many of the great northern newspapers. "The 
Miamian," a monthly magazine, is published by the Chamber of Coin- 
merce in the interest of Miami and its attractions. 

INI I AM I Realty Board 

The Miami Realty Board was organized January .3, 1920. It is an 
affiliated unit of the Florida Realtors Association and the National Asso- 
ciation of Real Estate Boards. The first officers were T. A. Winfield, 
president; R. V. Waters, secretary; Walter L. Harris, treasurer. The 
present officers are Frank J. Pepper, president; R. V. Waters, secretary; 
Thomas S. Davenport, treasurer; W. L. Greene, executive secretary. Of- 
fices are maintained in the Columbia Building. The board has a member- 
ship of 215. While the primary function of the Miami Realty Board is 
to secure closer cooperation among real estate brokers and to foster a 
higher standard of integrity in real estate transactions, its scope as a 
civic organization has reached beyond that special field, and has become 
the instrumentality through which its members can coordinate their ef- 
forts in development of higher community standards. Its code of ethics 
prescribes the duties of an agent to the customer, and it insists upon 
a square deal to both. The board has rendered valuable service, both to 
the individual broker and to the investing public, and it has placed the 
vocation of the real estate broker upon a higher professional plane. 

Miami Women's Club and Libuauv 

The Miami Women's Club is one of the largest and most influential 
women's clubs in the State of Florida. From a small social club organized 
in 1900, it has gradually broadened its field of usefulness until today 
it has departments covering civics, conservation, education, finance, arts, 
home, library, social conditions, health, playground, traveler's aid, music, 
household economics, legislative and child welfare. Mrs. James M. Jack- 
son and Mrs. Curtis W. Gardner were the originators of the Women's 
Club. This was in 1900. At that time Miami had but a small popula- 
tion and the social life of the community was confined largely to the func- 
tions of the church. Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Gardner at one of their 
afternoon visits proposed the formation of a social club. A meeting was 
called at the home of Mrs. Gardner, and about twenty women responded. 
Mrs. Gardner was chosen chairman and Mrs. Jackson president. A society 
was organized and a constitution was adopted. Mrs. Gardner was chosen 
president; Mrs. James M. Jackson, vice president; Mrs. E. A. Frederick, 
secretary; Mrs. Bradley, treasurer. Among the charter members were 
Mesdames Gardner, Jackson, Bradley, Dewey, McAllister, Budge, H. 
Budge, Sanders, Knowlton, Woodall, Tatum, Faris, Fuller. The follow- 

35 



ing is a list of the presidents of the chib from 1900 to 1921 : Mrs. 
Curtis W. Gardner, 1900-1903; Mrs. A. E. Frederick, 1903-1909; Mrs. A. 
Leig-ht Monroe, 1909-1911; Mrs. T. V. Moore, 1911-1914; Mrs. CHfton D. 
Benson, 1914-1917; Mrs. Harvey Jarrett, 1917-1919; Mrs. William Mark 
Brown, 1919-1920; Mrs. Reginald Owen, 1920 — . The women set their 
hearts on building a clubhouse of their own, and while this was thought 
to be a large task, they succeeded in doing so, and a handsome building 
was erected on Flagler Street on a lot donated by the late Henry M. 
Flagler. The women soon turned their thoughts toward establishing a 
library. Each member agreed to pay ten cents each month for the pur- 
chase of books. From this small beginning, the library was supplied, and 
later many volumes were contributed. In 1920 the library had grown to 
such proportions that a librarian was appointed. The library shelves are 
now crowded with books. Mrs. A. Leight Monroe is the librarian. 

Othek Clubs 

The Elks Club was one of the first social clubs in Miami. The club pur- 
chased lots at the corner of East Flagler and Northeast Second Street and 
there erected a beautiful and substantial Elks' home. The building is of 
reinforced concrete and is visited by many visitors during the winter sea- 
son. During the World War a portion of the building was turned over to 
the Red Cross. The Miami Rotary Club is an organization of which the 
city is proud. The membership is made up largely of business men of 
the city. The club holds a weekly luncheon, at which the members dis- 
cuss the well-being of Miami. The officers of the Rotary Club are F. B. 
Stoneman, president, and Dr. A. L. Evans, secretary. The Miami Shrine 
Club is one of the most popular organizations in the city and numbers 
among its membership many of the leading men of Miami. Other clubs 
of Miami include the Civitan Club and the Kiwanis Club, both recently 
organized and both having a representative membership. The Miami Ad 
Club is an organization but recently formed, yet it has already demon- 
onstrated that it will have a strong and helpful influence in building up 
Miami and Dade County. The aim of this club is to see that careful and 
truthful advertisement of Miami and Dade County be given the public. 
The Miami Anglers' Club is one of the most popular fishing clubs. The 
membership is made up largely of northern tourists. An attractive club- 
room is maintained at the Hotel Urmey, where weekly meetings are held. 
The club owns a number of modern fishing boats, and offers prizes for the 
best catches of the season. 



36 




THE DADE COUNTY BAR 

By Judge A. E. Heyseu 

N the beginning the sturdy Seminole, with primitive passion for 
fair play, fattened the soil with the red blood of flagrant of- 
fenders and so the fountains of Justice were kept pure. 

The few whites who first appeared settled their troubles 
with the same passionate readiness for blood-letting, as free 
from compunction or pity as their more barbarous co-habitants, and with 
as little of the law's quibble or delay. 

On the surrounding seas it was the same. Black Cpesar and his kindred 
bands of ruthless pirates terrorized the coasts, while offending comrades or 
troublesome captives were made to walk the plank to a watery grave to the 
accompaniment of the lightning's lurid glare and the thunder's crashing 
notes that gave terror to the requiem of the storm. On land the times were 
scarcely less heroic, and the victims of feuds or of private wrath went to 
their rest unmarked beneath the lonesome shadows of the sighing pines. 

Bars and bars there were in Dade County long before courts and law- 
yers were known and recognized as a part of its scheme of existence. In 
these ancient days there was long standing controversy as to which was the 
most popular or necessary, the light cheese-cloth affairs which kept off the 
myriad midnight assassins (now happily almost extinct) and which came 
in countless clouds thirsting for blood, or the other kind of bar, whose 
crossing the great Poet made famous, but which in those lonely and primi- 
tive days was only very occasionally used by sea-rovers and pirates as their 
way to the mainland to find fresh water, or safely bury the boundless 
wealth of their ill-acquired booty, and thereby make all kinds of trouble 
about their crazy buried treasure for the folks who came along later. 

When the first lawyer appeared there was no outlet for his prowling 
and predatory instincts, except truck-raising and beach-combing, and 
when he did appear he had for a while to content himself with a thinly 
simulated enthusiasm for these uninviting forms of out-door and field 
sports for which he was fitted neither by talent or training. The first law- 
yer was here, but there was no Bar — in Dade County — not yet. That was 
in 1881, and there was no road through the Brickell hammock. 

These were destined to come later. Like most good things that came 
to Dade County, the Bar was an importation. Things were just beginning 
and the growing pains were already making some disturbance. She had 
just come into prominence in national aflfairs by holding up the Hayes-Til- 
den election for a couple of months, when that able jurist, Judge E. K. 

37 



Foster, gathered around him some of Florida's ablest lawyers and, with a 
schooner chartered from Indian River, set out for the golden quicksands of 
the desert of Miami. They came into this terra incognita of bloody and 
romantic legends, to do or die ; or else to organize and unscramble its strug- 
gling society which had become all messed up over a local election contest, 
and a wine wreck wherein a Spanish barque, full wine laden, had just been 
cast on the coast, all unforeseen and unexpected, by one of nature's periodi- 
cal disturbances. It was a nightmare of a nature's jag, in the throes of 
which something like a thousand packages of good liquor came on shore 
and afloat to the delectation of an unsuspecting, but highly appreciative and 
receptive community. This was before the time of the bars that had foot- 
rails. 

Under these distracting conditions Judge Foster and his able attorneys 
organized and held this never-to-be-forgotten FIRST term of Circuit Court, 
which really placed Dade up in line with her sister counties as an organ- 
ized and civilized community and established firmly the foundation for the 
part it has since taken in the legal histoiy of the state. That was in 1886, 
and since then the wheels of the Gods of Justice have been grinding on 
with more or less patience and regularity and precision. 

Judge Foster's schooner was large enough to serve as home and hotel 
for his lawyer crew, which rendered them independent of local hospitality, 
which at that time was somewhat limited, and made the cruise a pleasant 
and notable one. Among them were Mr. Allen, Judge Mershon, W. L. Pal- 
mer, D. L. Gaulden and J. Hugh Murphy, and also the first lawyer afore- 
mentioned, whom they picked up at Palm Beach and who had the honor of 
being one of this delightful and unique party. 

Thus was a Bar in Dade County, but not yet the Dade County Bar. 
That came later, — when Mr. Flagler's works began and the growing pains 
had localized into real little centers of population and even crudities of at- 
tempts at civilization, at Juno and Palm Beach, — and Miami. 

Who remembers Juno now? Yet, then — when Dade County stretched 
from the Keys, in ever widening fan shape — clear to the St. Lucie River, — 
to the far side of Okeechobee, then it was, with the county seat at Juno, 
that the firm of Robbins, Graham and Chillingworth, came in to found the 
abstract business and help form the legal procedure of what was then 
sometimes called "the State of Dade." There followed soon W. I. Metcalf, 
now of West Palm Beach, but Judge at one time of the Criminal Court at 
Miami, and H. F. Atkinson, still of Miami and Judge of the same court. 
Also Robt. R. Taylor and S. L. Patterson and Judge G. A. Worley, the first 
judicial officer in Miami, while the county officers were still at Juno, and 
now one of the most noted figures among criminal lawyers. Also the la- 
mented Judge Jas. T. Sanders, whose influence was largely instrumental in 
establishing the first criminal court of the county. He was its first prose- 
cuting attorney, and A. E. Heyser, aforementioned as the first lawyer who 

38 



came into the county, was its first Judge. They served both at Juno and 
also at Miami after the county seat was moved here, in 1899. 

It was during these three years, from the time of its incorporation in 
1896, until the return of the county seat, that Miami experienced its most 
crucial time. Besides the naturally rough and turbulent population of a 
new frontier town, there was added to its regular residents as many as 
7,200 soldiers at times during the Spanish War period. With the court- 
house and county officers at Juno, more than 70 miles away. Judge Worley, 
as justice of the peace, was the only judicial officer within reach and to him 
belongs the credit in keeping the situation in hand and maintaining law 
and order in the new settlement during these wild, formative days, and un- 
til the the county seat and officers were moved back to Miami, where they 
rightly belonged. 

It was somewhere about this time, when Miami first began and the 
county offices were at Juno, but most of the business and most of the law- 
yers then at West Palm Beach, which was ten miles away and growing by 
leaps and bounds, that there was really a Dade County Bar, and its Bar 
Association was first formed, with A. E. Heyser, then County Judge, as its 
first president. 

The Dade County Bar as an organization has remained in more or less 
active service ever since and has had many meetings to discuss matters that 
went to make up our local history, and now has its regular get-together 
banquets every two weeks with timely discussions on matters of the most 
pressing importance. It has been honored by having at its head such able 
men as A. A. Boggs, Judge H. P. Branning, Senator Hudson and A. J. 
Rose. It stands for all that is best in the law and its administration, a 
power in council and consultation for new and better laws and for the 
proper administration and enforcement of those we have. 

During the ten years that the court-house was at Juno and the real 
business at West Palm Beach (and then at Miami) lawyers came thick and 
fast following the few pioneers I have mentioned, and since then there has 
always been the Bar Association, more or less organized, according to the 
needs of the times, and always the Bar, meaning a large and ever increas- 
ing assemblage of brilliant and high-grade lawyers, coming from almost 
every state in the Union, and making up one of the brightest galaxies of 
the profession to be found in the state, or perhaps in any state. 

At Miami they have found and helped unravel some of the most im- 
portant and unique problems that have come before the courts of the state 
or country, and in some things have led the way and made precedents for 
the rest of the country. The rapid growth of this Wonder City has led to 
activities and growth of the legal profession seldom equaled anywhere and 
the signs of the times are that we are not yet done in this line, but may ex- 
pect to be called upon to blaze the way in many ways that are still obscure 
and unsettled. Under the labor and example of the Miami Bar, aided by 
like associations in sister cities, the ethics of the profession and the stand- 

39 



ing of its members are constantly improved, and the usefulness of the pro- 
fession enlarged. Crudities that were common and thought nothing of 
within the memory of the writer would seem inconceivable and utterly im- 
possible now. 

With the marvelous development of the Florida East Coast there have 
been cut off from old Dade the grand counties of Palm Beach and Broward, 
each of which has its own fine bodies of men who make up their own local 
bars and are in themselves notable and influential bodies of lawyers. At 
Palm Beach, especially, there have remained many of those who at one 
time helped to make up the roster of the Dade County Association. 

It is a far cry from the time the first lawyer set foot on Dade County 
soil, in 1881, and notwithstanding two-thirds of it have since been cut off 
to form Palm Beach and Broward, leaving only Miami and surrounding 
territory, it has steadily grown and increased as the city prospered and 
grew, until now the local bar is made up of over a hundred (110 at present 
writing) as brilliant, alert and ambitious body of lawyers as can be found 
on the American continent. 



The first circuit court for Dade County was convened at Fort Dallas 
in 1889. Judge Foster, a Yale graduate, was then judge of the circuit and a 
Mr. Faulkner was the first clerk. William Malone, now living at Key West, 
is said to have been the first man admitted to the Bar of Dade County. 

Ralph M. Munroe, one of the early settlers of Coconut Grove, tells of 
attending a meeting of the county commissioners in 1877. The meeting was 
held in a small building near the Miami River, on the south side of Fort 
Dallas Park. The commissioners present were Charles Moore, Lake Worth ; 
Adam Richards, Miami; Judge Faulkner, George Potter and William B. 
Brickell, also of Miami. Mr. Munroe relates that at this meeting the room 
looked more like an arsenal. Many of the spectators brought their guns, 
wore their holsters with revolvers and cartridges, but there was no out- 
break or disturbance. 




40 




THE MEDICAL PROFESSION 

By James M. Jackson, M. D. 

RIOR to Mr. Flagler taking up the development and exten- 
sion of the Florida East Coast Railroad from Palm Beach to 
Miami, the people of this community were dependent for med- 
ical attention upon the following members of the profession: 
Dr. Eleanor Gault Simmons and Dr. John W. Jackson, who 
resided near Coconut Grove, and Dr. J. D. Baskins, who resided at 
Lemon City. Dr. Baskins, after the opening of Miami, moved to Miami 
for a time, afterwards moving away. The development of Miami and its 
much talked of resources brought a considerable number of new members 
of the profession. At one time, in less than three months after the town 
was opened, there were 14 members with offices opened for the practice of 
their profession. The usual conditions of good health and small amount of 
sickness prevailed, and this number gradually became less and less until 
the summer of 1897 there were only two doctors in active practice in the 
city. There was little change until 1898, when the Spanish-American 
troops were located in Miami for a time, bringing in an epidemic of typhoid 
and the usual camp diseases. The demand for additional men increased the 
number during this year to six and since then the profession has gradually 
increased in numbers until at the present time Miami and Dade County is 
well populated with members of the medical profession, representing all 
branches and specialties, men of high-class attainments, who are recognized 
as such by the best men of the profession over the United States. 

It is noted with pride that the members of the medical profession of 
Miami and Dade County have always been a haiTnonious body, always ready 
to assist each other and the public, and never indulging in those petty 
bickerings sometimes found among members of the profession in other 
places, to the detriment of the profession and the public. 

In 1900 the Dade County Medical Association was organized at a 
luncheon at the then Everglades Hotel, now the Gralynn Hotel. Dr. R. H. 
Huddleston, now deceased, was its first president, and Dr. E. W. Pugh was 
its secretary. Dr. Pugh was a few years later elected president and died 
during his term of office. Since the organization of the Association it has 
been continually in existence, and its members manifest a keen interest in 
scientific investigation and study. It has taken much interest in local sani- 
tai-y matters and it has been due in a great measure to the active co-opera- 
tion and advice of its members that Miami has had such a good record of 
health as a city. Members have always taken great interest while away on 

41 



their vacations and while taking post-graduate courses to impress upon 
the public, and especially members of the medical profession, the peculiar 
health advantages of Miami. It is believed that this has had much to do 
with the rapid development and growth of Miami. 

It was due to the urgent demand of the Dade County Medical Associa- 
tion that the City Board of Health was created by the city council. The or- 
dinance was drawn by its members and they, collectively and individually, 
urged upon the citizens its enactment. The board has two medical and one 
lay member, all serving without compensation, and they have accomplished 
much good and healthful work in behalf of the city. 

The present City Hospital is, in a measure, due to the urgent demand 
of the Dade County Medical Association for better care of city patients. Its 
staff is selected from the county association, with the co-operation of every 
member of the society. 

Members of the medical profession in Miami and Dade County are not 
only interested in their professional work, but may always be found in the 
front rank when work is to be done for the welfare of the city and county. 




42 



MILITARY HISTORY 

/ 

J URING the Indian War, in 1835, the War Department estab- 

Dlished a military post here, which the department called Fort 
Dallas. Here General W. T. Sherman began his military- 
career. Several houses and a barracks were built. According 
=^=^- to a report of the garrison, this country was at that time 



a treeless place. In one of these reports it is claimed there was no 
timber nearer than five or six miles. There were four buildings erected on 
the grounds now occupied by the Royal Palm Hotel. One of these buildings 
was a bakery and the others were houses for the officers. These buildings 
were burned about 1870 or 1871. One of the officers' quarters, which was 
occupied as a home by Mrs. Julia D. Tuttle, remained standing, as did also 
the stone barracks. The grounds in front of the buildings were used for a 
parade and drilling ground. The War Department did not make a perma- 
nent militaiy reservation of the grounds. 

In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, when troops were being 
sent to Jacksonville, Tampa, and other Florida points, the people here be- 
came anxious over the fact that Miami was located close to the Atlantic 
Ocean, where the Spanish could send their fleet in and destroy the city. An 
effort was made by the people to get the War Department to send a body of 
troops here for the protection of the city. This was done, the Department 
sending here a body of troops numbering about 7,000. These troops were 
located from Flagler street north to the terminal station and west along 
Sixth street. The general hospital was located on Avenue C, along Thir- 
teenth street. The first case of typhoid fever ever known here originated 
at this time. Some of the officers had arranged for rooms for themselves 
in private homes. One officer had arranged for rooms at the home of Mrs. 
Chase, on Thirteenth street. The next morning after his arrival a govern- 
ment surgeon was called to the home of Mrs. Chase on account of the illness 
of this officer. The surgeon pronounced it a bad case of typhoid fever. Sev- 
eral days later more cases developed among the soldiers, but the disease was 
largely overcome before the troops were transferred to Jacksonville. While 
the troops were here the people felt a degree of safety as far as an attack 
upon the city was concerned, but there was other unpleasant conditions. 
For some reason there arose a feud between the troops and the colored peo- 
ple of the town, which resulted in some fatalities. The constant friction 
between the troops and the colored people was a continual source of anxiety. 
The troops were very much dissatisfied with conditions here and after a 
while they were transferred to Jacksonville. The people were as glad to see 
them go as they had been to see them come. During the Spanish-American 

43 



War the government built a sand fort on Brickell Drive, south of Miami. 
The fort was completed, but no guns were mounted. One or two guns were 
shipped here, but were only used as a decoration on the side of the road. 
While the troops were stationed here the people had a taste of real military 
government. During this time home guards were formed, consisting 
largely of the best citizens of Miami. In this organization were about 150 
men. They were not equipped by either the state or federal government, 
but they drilled daily and became a most efficient guard. 

Early in the history of Miami the first company of state militia was or- 
ganized here. The company was organized May 1, 1901, with the follow- 
ing officers : James T. Sanders, captain ; Elbert A. Froscher, first lieuten- 
ant ; Charles Miller, second lieutenant ; Joseph Chaille, first sergeant ; James 
F. Jaudon, second sergeant. In 1893 Captain Sanders was promoted to 
lieutenant-colonel. Sergeant Jaudon, who had been steadily promoted and 
who at the time Captain Sanders was promoted was serving as second lieu- 
tenant, was promoted to the captaincy of the company. The company was 
designated as Company L, National Guard of Florida. Company L was 
recognized as one of the best drilled companies in the state. In 1904 it was 
selected to attend a joint aimy and militia encampment at Manassas, Vir- 
ginia, as a part of the First Florida Provisional Regiment, National Guard 
of Florida, and was admitted to be the best drilled company at that encamp- 
ment. On December 5, 1907, Captain Jaudon's commission expired and G. 
Duncan Brossier, first lieutenant, was commissioned captain. Some time in 
1910 suggestions were made that a second militia company be formed. In 
July, 1911, Captain Jaudon and nearly 70 others petitioned the governor to 
organize a new company, which was granted. The work of enrollment was 
soon made and on July 19, during the fifteenth anniversary celebration of 
the founding of Miami, the new company was mustered into the service of 
the National Guard of Florida and designated as Company M. Captain J. 
F. Jaudon was elected captain, James D. Dill first lieutenant and Robert W. 
McLendon second lieutenant. On September 1, 1911, Captain G. Duncan 
Brossier tendered his resignation as captain of Company L. General Fos- 
ter ordered an elction to fill the vacancy and Lieutenant B. Frank Davis 
was elected captain; Walter C. Gibson being chosen first lieutenant and 
Youell G. Pope second lieutenant. 

About January 1, 1909, the few Union soldiers living here made an ef- 
fort to form a society, which finally resulted in the organization of the 
Union Veterans' Association. There were about 20 members, some living in 
the city and others in the country districts. For some time the association 
met on the first Monday evening of the month. Dr. W. W. Faris was 
elected president ; Captain C. J. Rose, vice-president ; E. V. Blackman, sec- 
retary, and A. B. Wyatt, treasurer. The meetings were kept up during the 
touri.st season, but on account of the small number of Union soldiers here 
at the time the association disbanded. The Henry Clay Roome Post, Grand 
Army of the Republic, was organized later, with about 40 members. Cap- 

44 



tain C. J. Rose was elected commander and E. V. Blackman adjutant. On 
May 26, 1920, the Henry Clay Roome Woman's Relief Corps was organized 
with about 40 members, with Mrs. E. V. Blackman president. 

In the early days the Confederate soldiers organized the Tiee Ander- 
son Camp of Confederate Veterans, with the late Captain May at its head. 
Soon afterward, the Daughters of the Confederacy organized a post or 
camp. Several years ago the Blue and Gray Association was formed and 
for the past three years have held picnics at Miami Beach. The officers of 
the association are J. C. Kuney, Confederate, president; E. V. Blackman, 
Federal, secretai-y. 

During the great World War, which the United States entered on April 
6, 1917, Miami and Dade County furnished her full quota of men under the 
Selective Service act. Men from all ranks of society enlisted to serve their 
counti-y, some seeing duty overseas and others serving in various canton- 
ments. Harvey Seeds, of Miami, and Lindley DeGarmo, of Coconut Grove, 
made the supreme sacrifice. In Miami the Harvey Seeds Post, No. 29, 
American Legion, has been formed, with the following officers : A. J. Cleary, 
post commander; R. C. Allen, vice-commander; Arthur G. Keene, historian; 
Robert N. Ward, chaplain, and J. H. Mc Quatters, sergeant-at-anns. At 
Coconut Grove the Lindley DeGarmo Post, American Legion, has been 
formed. Miami and Dade County did their full duty in all war activities, 
going "over the top" in all of the Liberty Loan drives and subscribing liber- 
ally to all relief oi-ganizations. 




45 



D 



BANKS AND BANKING 

Bank of Bay Biscayne 

ATING back to 1896, thence fonvard to 1921, it would seem 
that not enough time had elapsed to make much real banking 
history in Miami and Dade County, as compared with the 
history of banking in other towns and cities. Yet during this 
short time Miami has made a record in banking that it has 
taken many towns and cities a century to reach. In 1896 a few men 
awakened to the fact that there was a need of a bank in Miami and they de- 
termined to supply this want, so the Bank of Bay Biscayne is the oldest 
bank in the city, and from the first day of its opening it has supplied the 
ever-increasing population with the accommodations that is demanded of a 
first-class banking institution. The Bank of Bay Biscayne opened its doors 
May 2, 1896. The first officers were William M. Brown, president ; R. R. Mc- 
Cormick, vice-president; and C. S. Schuyler, cashier. The first directors 
were William M. Brown, Charles H. Garthside, Julia D. Tuttle and James 
Pritchard. The capital stock was $25,000. When the bank first opened its 
doors the few people who then resided here asked : "What need is there for 
a banlc in Miami?" It is safe to say that the bank did not have easy sailing 
in the early days of Miami. But Mr. Flagler had just begun his great de- 
velopment here and his deposits materially helped the bank during the first 
few months of its existence. Business men, investors and laborers soon be- 
gan to come and the deposits increased rapidly. For 25 years the Bank of 
Bay Biscayne has been a safe harbor for the depositor and for the business 
man. Their motto has been "safe banking," at the same time granting all 
accommodations consistent with safe banking. Soon after its organization 
James H. Oilman was employed as bookkeeper, as was also E. C. Romfh. 
Mr. Gilman, after serving under several presidents, first as bookkeeper and 
later as cashier, was elected president of the bank in December, 1918. In 
1906 the late Joseph A. McDonald accepted the presidency for a short time, 
being succeeded by J. E. Lummus. The present officers are: James H. Gil- 
man president; S. A. Belcher, vice-president; E. B. Douglas, vice-president; 
F. W. Fuzzard, vice-president; T. E. James, cashier; M. W. Hallam and J. 
E. Lind, assistant cashiers. Directors: James M. Jackson, chainnan; 
James H. Gilman, F. W. Fuzzard, S. A. Belcher, E. B. Douglas, John B. 
Reilly, and F. L. Church. The capital stock was first increased to $50,000 
and in 1911 it was increased to $100,000 and since then to $150,000. In 
1898 their deposits amounted to $55,000. Their statement of April 2, 1921, 
shows deposits of $6,660,487.75. The Bank of Bay Biscayne was opened 
for business in a small building near Fouileenth street and Avenue D. It 
was later moved to a small room near the comer of Avenue D and Twelfth 

46 



street. They later purchased the banking house formerly owned by the de- 
funct Fort Dallas National Bank, at the corner of Twelfth and Avenue D, 
which is one of the handsomest banking houses in the south. 

First National Bakk 

Edward Coleman Romfh, president of the First National Bank, while 
employed as a bookkeeper in the Bank of Bay Biscayne became convinced 
that another strong bank was needed in the city. He went among his friends 
and interested them in the proposed organization. The new organization 
was perfected June 10, 1902. A commodious bank building was erected at 
Twelfth street and Avenue C and modern banking fixtures installed. The 
bank opened for business December 1, 1902, and from the day of its open- 
ing has met with phenomenal success. The first oflScers were : E. M. Brels- 
ford, of Palm Beach, president; W. H. Spitzer, first vice-president; E. A. 
Waddell, second vice-president ; E. C. Romfh, cashier. The directors were 
A. P. Anthony, E. M. Brelsford, William H. Graham, W. H. Spitzer, M. K. 
Salisbury, E. A. Waddell, E. C. Romfh, W. M. Burdine and James E. Lum- 
mus. Later G. C. Frizzell and George B. Romfh were elected to the board. 
In 1897 W. H. Spitzer was elected president and Harry McCown assistant 
cashier. In 1910 the capital stock was increased from $-50,000 to $100,000 
and E. C. Romfh was elected president ; W. H. Spitzer, first vice-president ; 
E. A. Waddel, second vice-president; Harry McCown, cashier; with the fol- 
lowing board of directors: E. C. Romfh, W. H. Spitzer, E. A. Waddell, G. C. 
Frizzell, E. B. Romfh, Hariy McCown, C. C. Chillingsworth, George B. 
Romfh and John Seybold. The capital stock has since been increased to 
?300,000. The present officers are: E. C. Romfh, president; W. H. Spitzer, 
G. B. Romfh and E. A. Waddel, vice-presidents; W. W. Culbertson, cashier; 
T. F. McAulifl['e, assistant cashier. The bank's present capital stock is 
$300,000 and their statement of February 21, 1921, shows deposits of 
$6,621,890.92. The First National plans to erect a modern ten-story bank 
building on its present site. It is not out of place to say here that Mr. 
Romfh is really the father of the First National Bank, and his vision 
of the growth and needs of Miami and Dade County has been fully justi- 
fied in the wonderful success of this strong financial institution, of which 
Miami is justly proud. 

First Trust and Savings Bank 

The Miami Savings Bank was organized and opened for business Febru- 
ary 15, 1910, with a capital stock of $25,000 and the following officers: W. 
H. Spitzer, president; Theodore G. Houser, first vice-president; Julius 
Smith, second vice-president; Charles M. Terrell, treasurer. Directors: E. 
C. Romfh, chairman; W. H. Spitzer, T. G. Houser, Julius Smith, E. A. 
Waddell, B. A. Deal, and Charles M. Terrell, secretaiy. In 1920 the name 
of the bank was changed to First Trust and Savings Bank and a new and 
commodious banking house erected on a lot in the rear of the First National 

47 



Bank Building. The present officers are E. C. Romfh, chairman of the 

board; W. H. Spitzer, president; Calvin E. Oak, vice-president; T. G. 

Houser, vice-president; C. M. Terrell, treasurer; C. M. Lindblom, assistant 

treasurer. Their statement of May 18, 1921, showed deposits of $1,095,- 

515.38. 

Miami Bank and Trust Company 

The Miami Bank and Trust Company was organized January 12, 1912, 
and opened for business March 1, 1912. The incorporators were Theodore 
Hoffstatter, C. D. Leffler, R. M. Price, M. M. Smith, Walter Waldin, H. G. 
Ralston, J. K. Dorn and A. A. Boggs. Property at the corner of Avenue C 
and Eleventh street was purchased and a substantial bank building erected. 
The first officers were : Theodore Hoffstatter, president ; R. M. Price, vice- 
president ; J. T. Wisdom, cashier and treasurer. The first directors were : 
Theodore Hoffstatter, R. M. Price, C. D. Leffler, M. M. Smith, and Walter 
Waldin. The present officers are C. D. Leffler, president; R. M. Price, vice- 
president; John C. Gifford, vice-president; J. H. Page, trust officer; R. H. 
Daniel, cashier; V. R. Brice, assistant cashier. The bank is considered one 
of Miami's solid financial institutions. The bank has a capital stock of 
$50,000. Statement of December, 31, 1920, showed deposits of $1,150,- 

037.36. 

Southern Bank and Trust Company 

The Southern Bank and Trust Company was organized January 13, 
1912, with a capital stock of $100,000. The following officers were elected: 
J. E. Lummus, president; Frederick S. Morse, vice-president; T. E. James, 
secretary and treasurer; H. H. Filer, assistant secretary and treasurer. 
The officers with Dr. James M. Jackson constitute the board of directors. 
President Lummus, who had been president of the Bank of Bay Biscayne, 
resigned that position to take the presidency of the new institution. The 
officers of the bank enjoyed the full confidence of the people and from its 
opening day it has been considered one of Miami's strong financial insti- 
tutions. The present officers are: J. E. Lummus, president; M. L. Spauld- 
ing, secretaiy and treasurer; J. N. Lummus, assistant secretary and treas- 
urer. During the year the bank met with a great loss in the death of Fred 
S. Morse, its vice-president. Mr. Lummus, president of the bank, was 
among the first to come to Miami and has been a great factor in carrying 
forward every interest of Miami. Statement of April 2, 1921, showed de- 
posits of $1,785,432.14. 

Dade County Security Company 

The Dade County Security Company was organized in 1901. The com- 
pany is a building and loan association. Hundreds of homes have been 
built by this organization and Miami owes a great deal of its prosperity in 
home building to the association. In the beginning it was a small affair, 
but its business has been handled with great care and it has had a continual 
and steady growth. At the last annual meeting the capital stock was in- 
creased from three million to five million dollars. The officei's are: J. L 

48 



Wilson, president; J. E. Lummus, vice-president; W. R. Sherrston, cashier. 
Directors: W. F. Miller, Orlo E. Hainlin, J. T. Feaster, J. F. Chaille, C. P. 
Weidling and G. A. Bolles. 

jNIiami Exchange Bank 

The Miami Exchange Bank opened for business May 20, 1920, with a 
capital stock of $50,000. The officers are: J. T. Thorp, president; T. R. 
Knight, vice-president; I. E. Schilling, vice-president; George Whitener, 
vice-president; George L. Branning, cashier. Since its organization it 
has grown rapidly in popularity and the officers and the bank have the 
confidence of the people. Statement of May 18, 1921, showed deposits of 
$215,190.23. 

The FinEMTY Bank and Trust Company 

The Fidelity Bank & Trust Company was organized by L. T. Highley- 
man in December, 1915, with a capital stock of $150,000. The bank pur- 
chased lots and erected a modern banking house on Flagler street. The first 
officers were L. T. Highleyman, president; E. G. Sewell, vice-president; 
Clarence M. Busch, vice-president. In April, 1921, Mr. Highleyman re 
signed, being succeeded by R. W. McLendon. E. G. Sewell also resigned as 
vice-president. Mr. Highleyman remained as chairman of the board. The 
Fidelity Bank and Trust Company closed May 19, 1921, and the following 
July it was announced that the assets of the institution would be taken over 

by the 

jMiami National Bank 

a new organization formed by J. R. Anthony and his associates. It was an- 
nounced that the officers of the new bank would be George B. Nolan, presi- 
dent; G. M. Clayton, vice-president, and John Welbourn, cashier. The 
bank's capital stock was announced at $150,000, two-thirds of which was to 

be alloted to Miami. 

Bank of Coconut Grove 

The Bank of Coconut Grove, one of the substantial banks of Dade 
County, was organized November 16, 1920. Deposits in this bank are in- 
sured against loss, it being one of the Witham chain of banks. The bank has 
a capital stock of $15,000. The officers are : A. W. Sanders, president ; W. V. 
Little, vice-president; D. F. F. Christance, vice-president; George L. Rey- 
nolds, cashier. Statement of May 17, 1921, showed deposits of $146,607.79. 

Bank of Homestead 
The Bank of Homestead has a capital stock of $25,000 and deposits are 
insured against loss. The officers are W. D. Home, president ; Charles T. 
Fuchs, Sr., vice-president; W. M. Bradley, cashier; E. Z. Crowley, assistant 
cashier. Statement of May 19, 1921, showed deposits of $407,383.83. 

Other Banks 
Other banks in Dade County include the Bank of Buena Vista and the 
First National Bank of Miami Beach, recently organized. 

49 



THE PRESS 



==" lAMI is served by two daily newspapers, the Miami Daily 

M Metropolis covering the afternoon field and the Miami Herald 
the morning field. Both of these papers are equipped with 
all modern facilities and cover the field adequately. The 
I Metropolis is the pioneer newspaper of the city, its first issue 
appearing May 15, 1896, the memorable year of the city's incorpora- 
tion. The paper was established by Walter S. Graham and Wesley M. 
Featherly. In 1899 B. B. Tatum purchased an interest in the paper, and 
in 1905 S. Bobo Dean bought a half interest. Some time later Mr. Tatum 
sold his interest to A. J. Bendel, and Mr. Dean and Mr. Bendel conducted 
the paper until 1915, when Mr. Dean became the sole owner. The Metropo- 
lis is published every afternoon except Sunday and has full Associated 
Press leased wire. It issues a paper of from twelve to sixteen pages and 
has all the features of a metropolitan newspaper. It also issues a weekly 
edition, the Weekly Metropolis. The Miami Herald, which covers the morn- 
ing field, was established in 1910. F. B. Stoneman began the publication 
of the Miami Evening Record September 15, 1903. This publication after- 
ward became the Morning Neirs-Record and in 1910 a reorganization took 
place, which resulted in the establishment of the Miami Herald. The paper 
is published by the Miami Herald Publishing Company, of whch Frank B. 
Shutts is president, F. B. Stoneman is editor, and Edward Taylor is gen- 
eral manager. The Herald is published daily, including Sunday, and issues 
from twelve to sixteen page daily. It is a member of the Associated 
Press and gives its readers many special features. 

The Homestead Enterprise is published at Homestead, Florida, and is 
a weekly newspaper conducted by A. C. Graw. 




50 



HENRY M. FLAGLER 




T IS not my purpose to write a life history of the late Henry M. 
Flagler, the great philanthropist and empire builder and builder 
of the Florida East Coast Railroad and its chain of hotels. Mr. 
Flagler's life has been written in books and monuments have 
been erected to his memory, but the greatest of all monuments 
has been built by himself in what he has done. The building of an empire 
and the opening up of what was once thought to be a worthless country is a 
monument that will endure forever. 

While the undertakings of Mr. Flagler may have been to a certain ex- 
tent of a personal nature, his highest aim was to be of service to the world. 
Regai'ding the work he had undertaken, Mr. Flagler once said to me: "I do 
not expect during my life time to get any monetary gain from the vast ex- 
penditure of time, money and thought that I am making in Florida. If I am 
spared long enough to carry out my plans I shall be satisfied. I have been 
singularly blessed in my business career and I feel that where a man has 
been blessed with more than usual success that he will be held responsible 
to his Maker for the use that his money is put to. Others have built 
churches, libraries and schools ; these will all pass away with time and the 
givers will be forgotten. But the building of the Florida East Coast Rail- 
road and the opening up of a wilderness will not, I am sure, be effaced by 
time, but rather will grow in value as the years go by and as the people 
come in 'and possess the land.' I am confident that the railroad I am build- 
ing will in time become the most valuable railroad property in the world." 

Mr. Flagler's prophetic words are fast coming time. Years ago while 
I was an editor of a paper in Daytona I wrote an article regarding the fu- 
ture of the Florida East Coast Railroad. I stated that the time would 
come when the railroad would be double-tracked from Jacksonville to 
Miami. Mr. Flagler, in commenting on this article, said, "Mr. Blackman, 
you come the nearest writing my thoughts, aims and ambitions for the fu- 
ture of the Florida East Coast Railroad than any man. What you say 
about the double-tracking of the road will certainly be fulfilled." 

Mr. Flagler was largely unlike those who have been interested in rail- 
road building in this country. His work seemed to me to be directed by a 
higher power. He had a wonderful vision of what this country would 
eventually be, a vision that was not shared by other prominent capitalists. 
I remember one time sitting on the broad piazza of the Royal Palm Hotel, 
in conversation with the late Samuel Sloan, then president of the Delaware 
& Lackawanna Railroad. Our conversation turned upon Mr. Flagler and 
the wonderful work he was undertaking, when Mr. Sloan said: "I do not 

51 



want to criticise Mr. Flagler in what he is undertaking here, but I do say 
that it would be impossible for him to form a group of capitalists to build 
the Florida East Coast Railroad and make the other developments he is 
making in what I consider a worthless country, save its climate. A rail- 
road must have a certain amount of business and there are but few people 
in this southern section and no immediate prospect of the population in- 
creasing rapidly. Even though he fills this palatial hotel it will cut little 
figure in paying the expenses of the road. I do not think he can succeed, 
but should his dream prove true it will make him the greatest philan- 
thropist of this or any other age." Mr. Sloan was a great man, who had 
risen from a lowly position to the head of a great railroad, yet he, and 
many other great financiers, honestly believed Mr. Flagler's great projects 
were doomed to failure. 

We all revere the name of Henry B. Plant, the great awakener of the 
west coast of Florida, but in building his road south he built, generally 
speaking, as a demand had been created for railroad facilities. The con- 
ditions on the east coast were far different. Mr. Flagler had not only to 
build the railroad but he had to create the business that would make it pos- 
sible to run trains, and he took the entire responsibility of success or fail- 
ure, asking no one to share his burdens. This was vision, this was inspira- 
tion. I have long believed that Providence has during the ages raised up 
men to accomplish certain work, and I fii-mly believe that Heni-y M. Flagler 
was commissioned to do his great work. And well he performed the work 
entrusted to him! He once said to me that many of his strongest friends 
had advised him to give up the work, adding "but there is an impelling 
force within me and I must carry out my plans." 

It was Henry M. Flagler who first thought of connecting Miami, the 
embryonic city, with a deep water channel to the ocean. Unaided financially 
and with little encouragement from the people, he caused to be dredged 
from the Miami River to Cape Florida a channel to the open ocean. When 
completed he put on a line of steamers from Miami to Key West and a line 
from Miami to Nassau, afterward building a dock on Biscayne Bay and 
dredging a channel from a point opposite Miami to his new dock. 

The last work Mr. Flagler undertook was the extension of the Florida 
East Coast Railroad to Key West. This was one of the greatest engineering 
problems of any age. To build bridges over the deep sea passes was thought 
to be impossible, yet Mr. Flagler, with his inspiration for conquest, under- 
took the venture and succeeded. There was a long gap of rough sea water 
between Key West and Havana, Cuba, over which bridges could not be 
built. A great over sea ferry was established, carrying train loads, which 
proved to be a great success. 

Vision and inspiration, coupled with the willingness of Mr. Flagler to 
follow the dictation of vision and inspiration, enabled him to complete his 
great work. He went out into the great beyond to receive his recompense 

52 




HENRY M. FLAGLER 



for the deeds done in the body, and a nation mourned his passing and the 
nations of the earth paid tribute to his memoiy. 

The Miami Women's Club, on November 12, 1920, unveiled a bronze 
memorial tablet at the library building in honor of Henry M. Flagler. 
The occasion was a notable one in Miami. Mr. James E. Ingraham, of 
the Florida East Coast Railroad and a life-long friend and associate of 
Mr. Flagler, made the principal address, recounting so many interesting 
historical facts touching the life and labors of Mr. Flagler that the writer 
feels justified in recording here Mr. Ingraham's address in full: 

Madam President and Ladies of the Miami Women's Club, Ladies and 
Gentiemeyi: 

Madam President,, I want to thank you for the opportunity you have 
given me of saying a few words on this occasion of the unveiling of the 
memorial to my friend and chief, Mr. Henry M. Flagler, and as one of 
the few men left of the group associated with him on the East Coast 
in his great undertakings, I feel that I can say something not only of 
Mr. Flagler, but of the men that were associated in his work, many of 
whom have crossed the Great Divide. There never was a cleaner, more 
hardworking, more honest or capable body of men ever grouped in one 
association under one man than those who were associated with Mr. 
Flagler in his work, and I am sure that they appreciated Mr. Flagler 
and would rather stay with him and help him do great things in a great 
way than to strike out for themselves and, possibly, with their knowl- 
edge of things that were to be done, make large fortunes. 

One of the most striking characteristics of Mr. Flagler was his great 
courage and confidence in his own judgment. He was a man who had no 
regard for experience or precedence, because he was a maker of prece- 
dents. One instance or more will perhaps illustrate my meaning. One of 
the first of the great works he undertook was the construction of a bridge 
across the St. Johns River at Jacksonville. While the work was being 
planned, his engineers came to him one day and told him that there was 
no precedent for the construction of a center pier on a caisson in 90 feet 
of water, that nothing of the kind had ever been done before, and they 
rather intimated some doubt of the practicability of it. Mr. Flagler 
looked at the gentlemen for a few moments and said : "It has never been 
done before? Well, why not? Cannot you build that pier in 90 feet of 
water?" They looked at him for a few moments and they said: "Yes," 
and they did it and the bridge is standing, and they established a prece- 
dent for construction of that character. 

Again, after Mr. Flagler had made up his mind to build the oversea 
section from Homestead to Key West, and he had called in consultation 
some engineers who are among the great engineers of the world — you 
may not realize it, but they were and are — one of them has passed away 
and the other is living. When these men made their estimates and plans 
for the construction of this line, Mr. Flagler having determined to build 
it, he told Mr. Parrott to advertise for bids on the construction of all 
or part of this work in the great papers of the United States, giving 
ample time for those who desired to send in proposals to e.xamine the 
work and prepare their bids. On the specified day, when the bids were 
to be opened, there were none sent in. Several gentlemen were present 
and one ofl'ered to submit what is now called a cost-plus contract; in 

53 



effect, a willingness to build the road on the plans and specifications at 
cost, plus a commission for their profit, and when he was questioned he 
said that there was no precedent for the formulation of the proposal 
for such construction, that there never had been anything like it, to build 
a concrete viaduct between the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf 
of Mexico was an unheard of procedure, that there were no figures 
they could get anywhere in the world on which to be guided in making 
up their bid and they had therefore been unable to do so. After some 
further consultation, the gentleman withdrew. Mr. Flagler sat in silent 
thought for sometime, and finally turned to Mr. Parrott and said : "Com- 
modore, cannot we do this job ourselves?" Mr. Parrott looked at Mr. 
Merridith, Chief Engineer, and back at Mr. Flagler, and said, "Yes"; 
and Mr. Flagler then said, "Let's get to work." There never was a 
greater undertaking started with less fuss and confusion than this great 
work. All precedents for construction of this character were lost sight 
of and new ones established. 

But you would be interested perhaps in hearing something of the 
foundation of Miami and how it came into being, and how two women 
were largely interested in so doing, and as this matter of the establish- 
ment of Miami was one in which I was personally very much in evi- 
dence,, you will pardon me for thrusting my personality into it, for I 
cannot well avoid it. 

Sometime before Mr. Flagler finished his railroad to Palm Beach 
I met at a dinner party in Cleveland, Ohio, Mrs. Julia D. Tuttle, who 
told me that she was about to remove her family and effects to Miami, 
and during the evening she said: "Some day somebody will build a rail- 
road to Miami. I hope you will be interested in it, and when they do I 
will be willing to divide my properties there and give one-half of them 
to the company for a town site." "Well," I said, "Mrs. Tuttle, it is a 
long way off, but stranger things have happened, and possibly I some 
day may hold you to that promise." 

On December 24, 1895, occurred the first of the great freezes, which 
was a tremendous disaster, at first supposed, to Florida, ruining the 
orange groves in the orange belt, touching the pines on the Indian River 
and nipping the cocoanut leaves on the trees in the cocoanut groves as 
far south as Palm Beach. As the orange industry was the principal in- 
dustry at that time in Florida, it seemed as if this freeze was a fatal 
thing and could not be overcome, and in almost every family dependent 
upon the orange industry it seemed as if death and disaster were in their 
daily lives. 

Shortly after this freeze I came to Miami, and I found at Lauder- 
dale, at Lemon City, Buena Vista, Miami, Coconut Grove and at Cutler 
orange trees, lemon trees and lime trees blooming or about to bloom, 
without a leaf hurt, vegetables growing in a small way untouched. There 
had been no frost there. I gathered up a lot of blooms from these various 
trees, put them in damp cotton, and after an interview with Mrs. Tuttle 
and Mr. and Mrs. Brickell, of Miami, I hurried to St. Augustine, where 
I called on Mr. Flagler and showed him the orange blossoms, telling 
him that I believed that these orange blossoms were from the only part 
of Florida, except possibly a small area on the extreme southerly part 
of the western coast, which had escaped the freeze; that here was a body 
of land more than 40 miles long, between the Everglades and the Atlantic 
Ocean, perhaps very much longer than that, absolutely untouched, and 

54 



that I believed that it would be the home of the citrus industry in the 
future, because absolutely immune from devastating freezes. I said : "I 
have also here written proposals from Mrs. Tuttle and Mr. and Mrs. 
Brickell, inviting you to extend your railroad from Palm Beach to Miami 
and offering to share with you their holdings at Miami for a town site." 
Mr. Flagler looked at me for some minutes in perfect silence, then he 
said: "How soon can you arrange for me to go to Miami?" I said: "I 
you can give me three days in which to get a messenger through to Mrs. 
Tuttle, advising her of your coming, so that she may prepare for you 
and get a carriage and horses to Fort Lauderdale, I will arrange to have 
the launch meet you at West Palm Beach, take you down the canal to 
Fort Lauderdale and from there by carriage to Miami. How many people 
will you have in your party?" Mr. Flagler thought for a minute and 
said: "There will be Mr. Parrott, Mr. McDonald (our Mr. McDonald, 
whose memory Miami people should never allow to grow cold), Mr. Mc- 
Guire, yourself and myself." 

The trip was made according to schedule and we arrived in Miami 
one perfect day, and that night was the most perfect moonlight that I 
have ever seen. Before bedtime, Mr. Flagler had accepted the proposi- 
tion for the extension of his railroad, had located the site of the Royal 
Palm Hotel and told Messrs. McGuire and McDonald to build it and had 
authorized Mr. Parrott to extend his railroad from West Palm Beach to 
Miami, and had told me to go ahead and make plans for Miami town 
site, clear up the town and get it ready. He selected, too, the sites for a 
passenger station, freight yards and station, and told Mr. Parrott to 
put advertisements in the State papers that labor of all kinds could find 
employment for many months at Miami in the construction of the rail- 
road, hotels and other classes of work. He sent down one of the steamers 
that had been running on the Indian River to the canal to establish rail- 
road camps for the construction work, carrying men, material and sup- 
plies. He arranged to have an additional dredge put on the canal to 
hurry the completion of the work between Lauderdale and the head of 
Biscayne Bay, that supplies might be pushed into Miami. 

In July, 1896, the City of Miami was incorporated, with .502 voters. 
Mr. John B. Reilly, son-in-law of Mr. Joe McDonald, being the first 
mayor. The railroad was finished later, and the city began to grow. 
There were hundreds of people who had come into this territory to en- 
gage in trucking, vegetable gardening, putting out nurseries of young 
trees, who had been brought in by the railroad and encouraged to settle 
in this community. 

On the seventh of February, 1897, occurred the second of the great 
freezes. This time trees were in bloom throughout the whole State, 
vegetables were nearly ready, in many localities, to be shipped, and the 
loss was utter dismay in its overwhelming conditions. At a conference 
with Mr. Parrott, Mr. Beckwith and our other officials it was decided 
that the railroad company would issue seed free, would haul fertilizer 
and crate material free, l3ut Mr. Parrott told me that that was as far 
as he thought the railroad company could go. I immediately got in 
touch with the seed houses, ordered supplies and seed to be given out 
free and bought all the seed beds of tomatoes that I could get my hands 
on for free distribution. While we were talking in the afternoon a 
telegram was handed to me from Mr. Flagler, saying: "Come to Miami 
at once." I took the first train and arrived at Miami about 6.30 in the 

55 



morning following, and found Mr. Flagler waiting for me on the steps 
of the Royal Palm. He took me by the arm, he did not say good morn- 
ing or how do you do, but walked with me into Mr. Merrill's (the 
Manager) office, and turned around and putting both hands on my 
shoulders said : "Ingraham, tell me how bad it is." I said : "Mr. Flagler, 
it is a total loss, the orange trees, we think, are ruined; they were in 
bloom, full of sap, and the mercury went to fourteen. Vegetables every- 
where are killed ; the pineries on the Indian River are killed, and it is a 
hundred per cent of loss." He said: "What have you decided to do?" I 
said : "After a conference ^vith Mr. Parrott, he authorized me to issue 
free seeds and to haul fertilizer and crate material free. That is as far 
as he felt that we could go, and I have bought up all the seed I can get 
my hands on,, and seed beds, for that purpose." He said: "That is all 
right so far as it goes, but it does not go far enough. These banks here 
in this territory are not strong, the banks will have to shut down on the 
merchants and the merchants on the farmers, and they will starve." 
He said: "Mr. Ingraham, I want you to get right into this territory. 
These people are not beggars nor paupers and they must have money to 
go on. In order to save time issue your own check and let them have 
such money as they need at 6 per cent on their notes for as long time as 
they desire. You can use $50,000, or $100,000 or $200,000. I would 
rather lose it all and more than that, than one man, woman or child 
should starve." 

I should like to have you people think a minute of this situation. 
Mr. Flagler had expended hundreds of thousands of dollars on the ex- 
tension to Miami in the hopes of getting into a territory that was abso- 
lutely free of frost. There was never one word of reproach to me, who 
had been largely instrumental in attracting his attention to this terri- 
tory, not one word, nor did he have one thought in his mind, I am sure, 
for the protection of this territory when he authorized this issue of 
money to those in need. It was simply that no woman and no child 
should starve. I was almost speechless when he told me. He said : 
"Now, get right out, issue your own check and cover it by drafts on 
Beardsley, whom I will wire about the matter." Don't you know that 
when I wired my associates and told them what Mr. Flagler had told 
me to do that they were tremendously revived, their courage was re- 
stored, their energies renewed and they realized what a great thing it 
was to do and why they chose to stay by Mr. Flagler and work with him 
and for him rather than independently. 

The effect of Mr. Flagler's decision to extend his railroad to Miami 
after the great freeze of 1895 restored confidence in the State, because 
other people, other territories, other banks, other corporations had re- 
alized that if Mr. Flagler had faith in Florida that it would pay them to 
have faith, too, and carry on the works in their territories, and they did, 
and the freeze instead of being, as we first thought, a great disaster, 
ruining the principal industry of the State, brought about a realization 
of the very great amount of resources in the State, the rehabilitation of 
some, building up of others, to such an extent that Florida was stronger 
after the freezes by far than before. The effect of the loans to the 
people in Miami of these sums to enable them to carry on again was 
marvelous. It gave them courage, it kept them from drifting away. 
That it was needed I can assure you was absolutely true. I saw some 
of the direst suffering that Mr. Flagler's money relieved, which I could 

56 



not have believed possible had I not seen it, and much of the welfare 
of this county, in fact the backbone of this county, lay in the strength 
of the men and women who stuck to their work, went on with their 
plantings and brought about a renewed condition of confidence in this 
territory. Within seventy-two days of the time that the first relief check 
was issued, vegetables, tomatoes, snap beans began to move, first by ex- 
press, then by carload, then by trainload, and I want to tell you that the 
season was so good a one as to price and quantity as to establish perma- 
nently the trucking industry in this territory. 

And now a more personal story of Mr. Flagler. The last time I 
saw him, stretched out on his bed of suffering at Palm Beach, before his 
death, I had just returned from a trip to Okeechobee, where we were 
undertaking the last of the great works begun in Mr. Flagler's lifetime. 
He asked me to tell him about it, and I showed him some pictures and 
he gave me his last words on this subject, which were: "I hope you will 
succeed. I am sorry I have not been there. I wish I could go, I hope 
to go, but I am afraid I will never see that great lake and that great 
country." He then turned and put his hand on mine and said: "When 
were you at Miami?" I said: "I was there yesterday and the day before, 
came up from there this evening." He said : "Well, what about it, what 
are they doing?" I told him some things that were going on, and I told 
him that it was truly a magic city. He said : "No, that is a misnomer ; it 
is not a magic city. Those men and women there are like boys and girls. 
They have never been hurt and they know no fear." He said to me: "It 
is a city of eternal youth." 

Think of it, with these skies, these beautiful waters, these trees 
ever green, the City of Eternal Youth. When I read in some of your 
daily papers of some wild, crazy stunt that is about to be pulled off by 
your boyish men and girlish women, I often think of what Mr. Flagler 
said, that it is a city of eternal youth, and these boys and these girls 
have no fear, and I am forced to believe by the success which has attended 
them that it is a city of eternal youth, and I pray you, you boyish men 
and you girlish women, when you bring your children up and teach them 
of Miami, do not let them forget the name of the man who founded it, 
who believed in it and who loved it, do not let his memory be forgotten. 

I, therefore, in the name of the survivors of the little group of men 
who were associated with Mr. Flagler in his great work in Florida, thank 
you ladies of the Miami Women's Club for your remembrance of our 
chief in the establishment of this memorial tablet to him. 




57 




MRS JULIA D. TUTTLE 

OON after I came to Miami I made the acquaintance of the 
late Mrs. Julia D. Tuttle, who impressed me as being a woman 
of great foresight, a woman who could at all hazards cany 
out her plans, although many of her plans reached far into the 
future of Miami and Dade County. Many of her plans have 
been more than carried out, and while some of them have not yet 
materialized, who knows but that they will be carried out in full before 
many years roll around ; in fact, her highest aspirations may have been 
but slight visions of what the future of Miami will eventually be. 

Mrs. Tuttle often called me to her home to consult with her in regard 
to some plan that she had in mind for advancing the interests of Miami. 
I have often thought that it was largely Mrs. Tuttle's visions of the future 
of Miami that urged me to write enthusiastic letters for the papers and 
magazines. To sit and hear her talk of what Miami would finally be was 
always inspiring. Many thought Mrs. Tuttle a dreamer — a chaser after 
shadows — but the passing years have proven beyond question that she 
was a woman of great foresight, a woman who had visions of the future 
that others were not permitted to see. I remember one evening, in the 
latter part of 1896, Mrs. Tuttle sent me a note inviting me to come to her 
home. It was a pleasure for me to grant her request. On my arrival at 
her home, she said: "I have had a new inspiration regarding the future 
of Miami and I want to tell it to you, for I know that you will remember it 
and some time use it." We were seated in her living room, she occupying 
a large settee on the south side of the room. "Now," she said, "I want to 
talk to you, and don't laugh at my predictions, for I feel sure they will all 
come true. All these years I have had but one thought and that one 
thought is to see Miami grow to one of the largest, if not the largest, city 
in all the southland. I have had many discouragements — discouragements 
that perhaps to one of a different temperament might have proven fatal — 
but the one thought and belief that at some future time these dreams of 
Miami's greatness would prove true has urged me on during all these years. 
No sacrifice on my part has been neglected to assist in bringing about my 
convictions of what Miami will eventually be — one of the greatest and most 
important cities, financially, commercially and residential, as well as the 
most important deep water port in all the southland. How many years will 
pass before this becomes true is, to me, yet a mystery. I can now only get 
a glimpse of the far future, but I want to tell you what I see will be the 
condition ten years hence." She then gave a description of what she saw 

58 




JULIA D. TUT7 LE 



in her farsightedness, or vision, of what Miami would be ten years hence. 
To me it seemed like the dream of a real dreamer. There were then many 
buildings under process of construction. The great Royal Palm Hotel was 
beginning to form shape ; its foundations were completed and the frame of 
the superstructure was being placed in position. The late Joseph A. Mc- 
Donald, who had faith in the future of Miami as the coming city of the 
southland, was building the Biscayne Bay Hotel ; Mr. Flagler was erecting 
cottages on Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets, the street improvements 
had commenced, and Mr. Flagler was dredging a channel from the Miami 
river to Cape Florida. On every hand improvements were being carried 
on, indicating a permanency and the rapid building up of the city. Mrs. 
Tuttle said that in ten years Miami would have a resident population of 
more than ten thousand people. She then went on and described many of 
the buildings that she saw in her vision, the beautiful streets, the great 
rows of business blocks and the beautiful homes. I said to Mrs. Tuttle: 
"You have a very active and farreaching imagination. You surely do 
not mean to say that within ten years all this development will be brought 
about." She replied most emphatically that she believed even greater de- 
velopments would be made during the coming ten years. Mrs. Tuttle's 
vision did not all come true within the time stated. In 1906 there was a 
permanent population of between three and four thousand, but the build- 
ings, both business and residential, had more than kept pace with Mrs. 
Tuttle's vision. 

Her vision of the development of the country districts was also as- 
tonishing, yet her statements regarding the outlying districts have more 
than come true. The question has many times risen in my mind was what 
she saw in her mind simply the "hope that gave father to the thought," 
or was it inspiration, a vision granted her of Miami's future greatness ? 

Mrs. Tuttle had equally bright visions regarding the port of Miami. 
Along this line she said: "It will not be many years hence when Miami 
will be the most important port on the Atlantic Coast in the South. The 
time will come when the harbor and its approach will be dredged to a depth 
that will allow the deep sea-going vessels to anchor. Not only will this 
bring in the coastwise steamers, whose captains now cast longing eyes 
toward Miami as they pass, but the South American vessels will finally ply 
between their home ports and Miami, and Miami will become the great 
center of the South American trade. Vessels from all ports of the world 
will call at Miami, making Miami the greatest commercial center in all the 
southland. This may seem far-fetched to you, but as surely as the sun 
rises and sets all of this will come true." Again, we ask, was this a day 
dream or was it vision or inspiration ? 

Mrs. Julia D. Tuttle was born in Cleveland, Ohio, her maiden name 
having been Julia De Forest Sturtevant. She was a daughter of Ephraim 
T. Sturtevant, who came to Dade County about 1871, and with William B. 

59 



Brickell located at the mouth of the Miami River, at what is now called 
Brickell's Point. Despite the fact that both her husband and father re- 
turned to Cleveland, Mrs. Tuttle decided after their deaths to make her 
permanent home in this State. She purchased from the Biscayne Bay- 
Company a tract of six hundred and forty acres on the north bank of the 
Miami River, and upon this tract is now built all of the main portion of 
the City of Miami. She induced Henry M. Flagler to build the railroad 
to this point, making him important real estate concessions. She died in 
Miami, September 14, 1898. 



^Mk 



60 



AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE 



T 



WENTY-FIVE years ago this portion of Florida was thought 
to be of no value as far as agriculture and horticulture was 
concerned. This made it difficult to induce men to take up 
the cultivation of vacant lands. Those who were seeking 
homes were looking for a soil where favorable results might 
be obtained. The writer had faith in the productivity of the soil of Dade 
County and made efforts to dispel the idea that the soil was worthless. 
Samples of soils from the Allapattah district were sent to the State 
chemist for analysis, who pronounced the soil of no value for either agri- 
cultural or horticultural purposes. This adverse report was a great sur- 
prise to those who believed otherwise and was not at all in harmony with 
the practical facts. The place from which this sample soil was taken 
had, in fact, been planted in tomatoes with wonderful results. The 
owner had marketed five hundred crates of tomatoes from a single acre, 
besides selling quantities of "over-ripes" in the home market. He had 
demonstrated beyond question that the soil, with commercial fertilizer, 
would grow bountiful crops of tomatoes. About this time William Free- 
man, of Little River, concluded to raise tomatoes for the northern mar- 
kets, and planted a small tract of about an acre. His crop was a won- 
derful demonstration of what could be done on this class of lands. His 
net returns from the commission men, after deducting the freight and 
commissions, amounted to fifteen hundred dollars. This result was ob- 
tained from a tract that measured a trifle less than one acre. Some- 
time later, S. J. Peters came to Little River with his family. Through 
the advice of E. A. Waddell he purchased a piece of land there and en- 
gaged in tomato growing with wonderful success. The Peters tomato 
fields were written up and sent broadcast throughout the country and 
people came from many points to see if the story was true. The grow- 
ing of tomatoes soon became the real occupation of the settlers who 
came in and in a short time Dade County was shipping to the northern 
markets more tomatoes than any county in the State. The farmers 
then began experimenting with other crops, such as egg plant, beans, 
okra and other vegetables, and these experiments proved very successful. 
The long arms of sand and marl lands, which have their head in the 
Everglades, once thought to be worthless, are now the home of the 
trucker, and a great variety of crops are successfully cultivated. 

61 



Dade County Fruits 

For a time the attention of the cultivators of the soil was centered 
on growing "garden truck." Gradually experiments were made in grow- 
ing citrus and tropical fruits. These experiments soon proved the value 
of the lands and climate to fruit growing. Scattered over the southern 
part of the county was here and there a settler, the larger portion of 
whom had come from the Bahama Islands, where all kinds of tropical 
fruits are grown. They had brought with them seeds of the avocado, 
mango and sapadillo, hoping that the country would be adapted to the 
growth of these fruits. As other settlers came from the North they 
secured seeds from the once dwellers of the Bahamas, and in this way 
nearly every homestead taken prior to 1896 had more or less of these 
trees. George B. Cellon, of Beuna Vista, was among the first to recog- 
nize that the avocado and mango had great commercial value. He re- 
alized, however, that at the season of the year when the fruit matured 
here the northern market was filled with peaches, apples, strawberries 
and other fruits and that it would be a hard matter to introduce this 
new fruit under those conditions. He undertook to find an avocado that 
would mature in the fall or early winter. He visited every place where 
the avocado and mango was grown and on the homestead of C. L. Trapp, 
at Coconut Grove, he found one tree that matured its fruit in the fall. 
He arranged with Mr. Trapp for buds from this tree, and in his honor 
it was named the "Trapp," and today wherever man is found the Trapp 
avocado is known, and thousands of acres of Dade County soils have 
been planted in Trapps. The Department of Agriculture became in- 
terested in the development of the avocado, especially the later varieties, 
and sent trained specialists to every country where the avocado grew to 
select the best and choicest varieties. In Guatemala and in China they 
discovered a number of varieties which matured almost every month in 
the year. From these trees buds were selected and sent to the Govern- 
ment experiment station in Miami and distributed to sections suited to 
growing the avocado. Many years ago the Department of Agriculture 
secured buds of the Mulgabo mango and buds were sent to Palm Beach. 
Today there are thousands of the Mulgabo trees planted in Dade County. 
This fruit is valuable from a market standpoint and is easily grown. 

In the southern part of Dade County as it is today there was for- 
merly no commercial groves of either orange or grapefruit. In the 
northern extremity of the county as it was in 1896 there was one or two 
commercial groves west of Jupiter. In the vicinity of Miami there was 
a few citrus trees here and there. The few trees scattered through this 
southern section were practically left to grow without care or cultiva- 
tion. The writer began to study the practicability of planting com- 
mercial groves, and believed that the trees with proper care would thrive 
here. I was at that time editor of the Florida East Coast Homeseeker 

62 



i'^W" "t^ 









-«-,^*^r^tS^ 






Cattle Raising in Dade County. Scene from Curtiss-Bright Ranch. Near Miami 




Sheep Raising in Dade County. Scene from Curtiss-Bright Ranch 



and I wrote an article advocating tiie planting of commercial citrue groves 
in this section. Twenty years after this article was published Dade 
County was supplying one-third of all the grapefruit shipped from the 
State of Florida. One of the first commercial groves planted in the 
vicinity of Miami was planted by John Douglas about four miles west of 
Miami. This grove was for years the show place of this section. The 
Potter brothers, who had grown citrus fruits near Sanford for many 
years, took up a homestead west of Coconut Grove and soon had a 
"real show" grove. The late Henry Wells, of Burlington, Vermont, pur- 
chased a part of the Captain Samuel Filer tract, bordering on Biscayne 
Bay, and planted a part of it in grapefruit, oranges, avocado and mango. 
After Mr. Wells' death, Mrs. Wells purchased forty acres at Orange 
Glade and planted twenty acres in citrus fruits and other trees. This 
grove was a beauty spot. Samuel Belcher, who came here before the 
railroad reached Miami, planted a grove of citrus and tropical trees on 
what is now Twentieth Street. Col. Henry Clay Roome came here in 
1896 and was successful with a citrus grove which he planted on ham- 
mock land on a bluff south of the Brickells. In 1897 the late Henry M. 
Flagler selected a tract of eighty acres at Kendall and planted seventy 
acres in oranges and grapefruit. This grove was sold in 1920. In 1897 
the late M. H. March bought a ti'act south of Coconut Grove and 
planted citrus fruits. Mr. March was one of the few men who from 
the start had faith in the adaptability of this soil for citrus fruits. Along 
about this time Charles LeJeune came here from France and purchased 
the homestead of the late Dr. Jackson on what is now known as the 
LeJeune Road. He has a grove of over seventy acres and it is among the 
groves that pays large dividends. Lewis Wagner and family came here 
from Georgina, Florida. He purchased a ten-acre tract at Orange Glade 
and planted a citrus grove, adding a few avocado and mango trees. 
This is another grove that has been a profitable investment. Space 
forbids referring to many others who came to Dade County in the early 
days and planted groves of citrus and tropical trees. These groves are 
here as witnesses that no one was mistaken in undertaking the growing 
of these fruits in this climate and soil. At the St. Louis Exposition I had 
charge of an exhibit from the East Coast of Florida and won first prize 
on oranges, grapefruit and pineapples. A box of avocado sent to the 
Jamestown exposition was awarded first premium. I also had charge 
of the East Coast exhibit at the Ohio Valley Exposition at Cincinnati, 
Ohio, where a great number of premiums were secured. Expert judges 
pronounced Dade County fruits even in those early days the best on the 
market. Today they rank as the best in the world. 



63 



ROADS AND BRIDGES 




N 1896, when Henry M. Flagler began his great improvement 
work in Miami, there was not a single mile of public roads 
in the southern part of Dade County. There were only trails 
over the rocky pine lands leading to the homes of the few 
settlers. In Mr. Flagler's agreement with Mrs. Tuttle was 
a stipulation that he would hard surface the roads or streets in certain 
portions of Miami and build sidewalks. "Captain" John Sewell, as 
he was then called, had charge of all this work, and proved to be not only 
a good road builder but a discoverer, as well. When the order was given 
to him to build streets and sidewalks there was no special material speci- 
fied. He had experimented with the native rock in building sidewalks 
around the Royal Palm Hotel, and was the first man to use the native rock 
for road building. The first hard surface road and walks were built around 
the Royal Palm grounds, then on Fourteenth, Thirteenth and Twelfth 
streets and a portion of Avenue D. This was the beginning of hard sur- 
face roads in Dade County. A hard surface road from Miami to Buena 
Vista was built by the city and county, aided by Mr. Flagler, and this was 
followed by a road from Miami to Coconut Grove built in like manner. 
Then there arose a demand for a hard surface road from Miami to the John 
Douglas road, west from Miami. Kirk Munroe appealed to the county com- 
missioners to build this road, off"ering to assume charge of the building of 
the road, but the commissioners did not respond. Mr. Munroe then under- 
took to build the road by private subscription, but did not secure enough 
pledges to complete the entire road, but the commissioners then came to 
his rescue and furnished enough money to complete the road. The build- 
ing of hard surface roads soon became a general slogan and the commis- 
sioners were swamped with petitions for roads in different parts of the 
county. The county has built over four hundred and fifty miles of hard 
surface highways and the county has the best roads in the State. All of 
the early road building was done without road machinery. Now the county 
has a number of machines. With the great increase of traffic it was found 
that the soft native rock did not make a strong and substantial wearing 
surface and other methods were tried out. Nearly all the roads in the 
county are treated with an oil surface, but with the increase of traffic the 
county has taken up what is called the penetration system. Neither the 
city nor the county have adopted the concrete road. 

The first bridge built in Miami was built by the Florida East Coast 
Hotel Company, or the Model Land Company. This was a wooden struc- 

64 



ture spanning the Miami River at the foot of Avenue C. The architect 
did not take into consideration the beauty of the structure, but simply its 
utility. It served its pui-pose for several years. The next bridge to span 
the Miami river was a steel structure at the foot of Avenue D (Miami 
Avenue.) This was built by the city and was a handsome structure that 
the city was proud of. The next bridge built was erected by the Tatum 
Brothers across the Miami River on Twelfth street in 1906. It was a 
wooden structure, strong enough to carry the trolley cars, which the Tatum 
Brothers were then operating, and the general traffic, and was a very satis- 
factory structure. The steel bridge on Miami Avenue became unsafe for 
travel and was replaced by a handsome concrete bridge, built by the city. 
The same year the Tatum bridge on Twelfth street was removed and the 
city built a concrete bridge in its place, a counterpart to the Miami Avenue 
bridge. Both of these bridges are handsome and substantial structures. 
The Collins bridge spanning Biscayne Bay and connecting Miami and Miami 
Beach, was built in 1912. It is a wooden structure, two and one-half miles 
in length and is one of the longest bridges in the country. The building of 
the Causeway from Miami to Miami Beach, over the waters of Biscayne 
Bay, a distance of about three miles, is one of the greatest pieces of road 
construction in the entire country. The Causeway is one hundred feet wide 
on the top, with two roadways and a railway track in the center. The 
surface is finished with asphalt oil. Over the Causeway the Miami Beach 
Traction Company operate a street railway system from Flagler street, 
Miami, to Miami Beach. On the Miami Beach side there is a loop covering 
both sides and both ends of the peninsula. The operating company built 
its power house, electric light and cold storage plant adjoining the Cause- 
way on the south side. The cost of the Causeway was about one million 
dollars. County Commissioner J. C. Baile had charge of the building of 
the Causeway until it was nearly completed. A variety of trees, shrubs 
and flowers ai'e planted on the south side of the Causeway. 




65 



T 



THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES 

HE first attempt made for draining the Everglades was made 
by Hamilton Disston, of Philadelphia. This was something 
like twenty-two years ago. Mr. Disston purchased a large 
tract of the Everglades lands from the State, situated in 
what was known as the Lake Hart region, on the southern 
boundary of Orange County. The topography of that section was favor- 
able for the complete drainage of the land. The principal operation in 
drainage was in Osceola County. Soon after the purchase of the lands, 
Mr. Disston entered into extensive plans for the drainage of a large area 
of muck lands, under the direction of R. E. Rose, now State chemist. 
Drainage canals were completed and a large acreage of sugar cane planted, 
as well as a great variety of the ordinary field crops and vegetables. All 
these crops proved most satisfactory. A sugar mill was erected at or 
near St. Cloud, which turned out as fine grade of granulated sugar as 
that made in any of the old sugar growing portions of the world. After 
demonstrating beyond question that the drained muck lands of the 
Everglades were not only wonderfully suited to growing sugar cane, but 
all agricultural crops grown further north, something suddenly happened 
which destroyed Mr. Disston's hopes, and the Disston drainage and sugar 
cane farms were abandoned. This put a stop to further efforts to drain 
this vast body of rich land. There was more or less talk of drainage for 
years afterward, but time rolled on and these fine lands remained as they 
came from the hands of the Creator. 

In June, 1898, there was a strong movement that promised to mature 
into something definite toward the drainage of a portion of the 'glades 
west from Miami. In that year the trustees of the Internal Improvement 
Fund entered into a contract with J. R. Parrott, J. E. Ingraham, Rufus 
E. Rose, James M. Schumacher, J. S. Murray, Guy R. Pride and E. M. 
Ashley, who composed the Florida East Coast Drainage and Sugar Com- 
pany, for the sale of practically e'ight hundred thousand acres of Ever- 
glade land, lying on the dividing range line of thirty-six and thirty-seven, 
at a price of twenty-five cents per acre. We shall not try to inform the 
public how this project came to fail. The failure of this company to 
carry out their plans, however, awakened the spirit of draining the Ever- 
glades, not only in this section, but throughout the State. In 1902 or 
1903 there arose a statesman who was destined to lead the drainage 
forces out of former defeat to victory. This was the beloved Napoleon 
B. Broward. He was elected Governor of the State in 1904 on a platform 

66 



advocating the drainage of the Everglades. When he announced his 
platform, those opposed to drainage looked upon the announcement as 
a joke, but they were soon compelled to "sit up and take notice." He was 
elected by a large majority and immediately commenced a movement to 
carry out his pre-election promises. This he found to be a difficult under- 
taking. His old enemies tried in every way to defeat him, but he was 
steadfast and immovable. 

There has been some disappointments in the work of draining the 
Everglades. When the work was first commenced it was thought it 
would be completed within a few .short years, but many obstacles have 
been met here and there. The people are anxiously awaiting the time 
when the work will be completed. Along the shore of the Miami- 
Okeechobee Canal, for several miles west of the city, the drainage has 
accomplished much for this section. Along the eastern shore of the 
'glades there are now large acreages under cultivation. The Pennsylvania 
Sugar Company purchased one hundred and twenty thousand acres of 
Everglades land and have eight hundred acres planted in sugar cane. 
The Russian colony have eleven thousand acres, five hundred of which 
is under cultivation. In the same neighborhood is the Curtiss-Bright 
ranch and other important holdings. As rapidly as these lands are 
drained they will be taken up by people who will engage in some of the 
industries that are now being successfully carried on in the drained 
portions. 




67 



THE DEEP WATER MOVEMENT 




HE first movement to secure deep water for Miami was made 
by Henry M. Flagler, when he caused to be dredged from 
the Miami River to Cape Florida what was then considered 
to be a deep-water channel to the ocean, and put on steamers 
plying between Miami and Nassau and Miami and Key 
West. This was considered a great victory. It did not, however, satisfy 
the aspirations of the people of Miami. In their vision they saw a 
deep-water channel from Miami to the ocean — a great harbor, with thou- 
sands of ships from all quarters of the globe resting on the placid face of 
its waters. The( Miami Board of Trade discussed the matter pro and con, 
and finally it was decided to go after deep water with a determination to 
secure it. The matter was taken up with the Rivers and Harbors Com- 
mission in Washington and a method of procedure was determined upon. 
First, there must be a minute statement in regard to the tonnage of freight 
that comes to and is sent out from Miami. This was a gigantic task and 
the work was turned over to E. V. Blackman, secretary of the Board of 
Trade. It was a long and tedious undertaking. Many of the merchants, 
fruit growers and vegetable men responded to the earnest solicitation of 
the secretary, but it took nearly two months to secure what was thought 
to be a complete list of the tonnage of freight coming into and being 
shipped out of Miami. A committee was appointed to go to Washington 
and present the claim of Miami for deep water. The committee did their 
work well. At the same time Mr. Flagler was represented in Washington 
by the late Joseph R. Parrott, president of the Florida East Coast Railroad, 
beside several other influential men, who worked with the committee from 
the Board of Trade. In this effort Mr. Flagler spent thousands of dollars 
in forwarding the movement. The committee and Mr. Parrott and his 
associates were recognized by the congressional committee, who listened to 
the claims of Miami as a deep water port. Although at that session of 
Congress no great headway was made in securing deep water, the recog- 
nition given the committee and Mr. Parrott and his associates was most 
encouraging. 

This was the real opening of the fight for deep water, which has 
continued from that time to the present. The Miami Chamber of Com- 
merce took up the deep water problem, which finally resulted in the gov- 
ernment dredging an eighteen foot channel from the mainland to deep 
water, while the city of Miami dredged a channel through the bay to a 
municipal dock to be built and a turning basin, both of the same depth of 

68 



the government channel. This work is now nearly completed, yet a chan- 
nel of that depth does not satisfy the Chamber of Commerce or the people 
of Miami. There is now a well-defined movement on foot which will give 
Miami a deep-water channel from the municipal docks to the ocean at a 
uniform depth of twenty-five feet, with every prospect that it will be 
secured. 

The city of Miami has received great benefits from the present chan- 
nel. Ships from foreign ports are taking the advantage of the port, trade 
with foreign nations has been and is being established, which is proving 
an important factor in the commercial life of Miami. Many government 
ships have taken advantage of the deep water and have anchored at the 
municipal dock. This was especially true during the world war. The 
Drake Lumber Company and the Lindsay Lumber Company have each 
built up lucrative connections with foreign lumber dealers and weekly ship- 
loads of their products have been and are being sent abroad. It is expected 
that within a year a steamer Hue will be etsablished between Miami, New 
York, Philadelphia and perhaps Boston, carrying both passengers and 
freight. Already there is a line of steamers between Miami and Havana 
and several lines between Miami and Nassau and several other English 
islands. These are but the indications of the future greatness of the port 
of Miami and the figure that it will eventually cut in the world's commerce 
when twenty-five feet of water is secured. Then the great coastwise 
steamers that now pass our doors will make Miami a port of call. Already 
South American steamship lines and South American business interests are 
investigating the possibilities of this port. These are all indications that 
in the near future the port of Miami will become one of, if not the most, 
important ports of entry on the South Atlantic coast. 

From the time the first movement was made toward securing deep 
water, it has been a constant fight, with the most flattering prospect that 
Miami will win a complete achievement. During the long struggle the 
people have had the most cordial assistance from Congressman Joe Sears, 
Senator Fletcher and others, and every move made by Miami people has 
had the earnest support of these representatives. President E. G. Sewell, 
of the Miami Chamber of Commerce, keeps in constant touch with every 
movement at Washington which affects the interests of this port and he 
with his committees stand ready to take up any work that will advance the 
interests of the city and port, be it here or a trip to the nation's capital. 



69 




THE DADE COUNTY FAIR 

ADE COUNTY was the first county in the State of Florida 
to hold a county fair. In the year 1897 the International 
Tobacco Growers held its annual convention in Miami. This 
was to be a great event and would bring in a large number 
of delegates. Miami was at that time an infant city and 
there was doubt whether all the delegates could find accommodations. 
I was employed at that time as editor of the Florida East Coast Home- 
seeker, a magazine published in the interest of the land department of 
the Florida East Coast Railroad. Before coming to Florida I had been 
interested in county and township fairs, believing them the best possible 
medium for advertising. It occurred to me that if I could gather a few 
products grown in Dade County and exhibit them it might be a drawing 
card at the meeting of the tobacco growers. I went to Henry Merrill, 
then manager of the Royal Palm Hotel, and told him my plan and asked 
him for one room on the ground floor for the fair. He was enthusiastic 
over the idea. Thus encouraged, I wrote to J. E. Ingraham, who was in 
charge of the land department of the Florida East Coast Railroad. He 
wired me to get up the fair and stated he would pay all expenses and fur- 
nish a tent. I immediately started to secure exhibits for the fair. At this 
time it was generally believed that neither vegetables or fruits could be 
gi'own here profitably. There were but a few people who had even a 
"kitchen garden." It was no easy undertaking to secure enough exhibits 
for a real fair. At that time the late C. 0. Richardson had the largest 
garden on the south bank of the Miami River, and he kindly offered to bring 
anything he had that would do for an exhibit. Henry M. Flagler offered a 
prize of seventy-five dollars for the best display of vegetables. The tent 
arrived, and the fair was a great success. The delegates to the tobacco 
growers convention wrote glowing accounts of the fair. Mr. Richardson, 
although a man of eighty years, won the prize of seventy-five dollars. 
Twenty-four years have passed since the first fair was held, and the 
movement thus started has continued year after year. Other counties have 
also taken up the idea and now hold annual fairs. It awakened the people 
to a realization of the value of exhibiting their products and this resulted 
in t]ie forming of a State Fair Association. 

For three or four years the Dade County fair was held in any place 
available and all the expenses were paid by J. E. Ingraham, of the norida 
East Coast Railroad. The fairs were directly under my management. The 
fairs were such a success that Mr. Flagler instructed Mr. Ingraham to erect 

70 



a fair building. This was done and a building erected at the foot of Twelfth 
street, over the waters of Biscayne Bay. This was a great improvement 
and added much interest to the annual fairs. The first year after the 
building was erected Mr. Flagler and Mr. Ingraham were present. After 
seeing the crowded condition of the building, Mr. Flagler ordered an ad- 
dition to the building before the next year. For several years the Florida 
East Coast Railroad paid the entire expense of the annual fair. As our 
people were receiving much benefit from the fairs I thought the people 
here should contribute to its support. I took the matter up with the busi- 
ness men, the county commissioners and the city fathers, and the response 
was almost unanimous. However, the railroad company continued to sup- 
port the institution. Later, I proposed that a fair association be formed, 
and Isidor Cohen was chosen president and committees were selected from 
all parts of the county. I was elected secretary and general manager. The 
second year after the organization was formed, J. C. Baile was elected 
president; E. A. Waddell, vice-president; J. I. Wilson, treasurer; and E. V. 
Blackman, secretary and manager. 

The burden of the fair had become so heavy that I resigned last year, 
as did all the other officers. The fair interests were turned over to J. S. 
Rainey, county demonstration agent, who made a most creditable showing 
with the twenty-fifth annual fair. 




71 



c 



COCONUT GROVE 

Early Settlement 

OCONUT GROVE, lying five miles south of Miami, is said to 
be the first settlement on Biscayne Bay. It is one of the most 
picturesque communities in Florida, and is noted for its beau- 
tiful homes and its cultural environment. The first post- 
office was established at Coconut Grove in 1873, but was dis- 
continued in 1874 and was not re-established until 1884, when Charles 
Peacock became postmaster. Dr. Porter established the first store there 
in 1870. The Bayview Hotel, afterward known as the Peacock Inn, was 
built in 1881 by Charles Peacock. The first school examination for 
teachers was held at Coconut Grove, April 6, 1888, at the cottage of Mrs. 
Caleb Trapp and she became the first teacher. Coconut Grove was in- 
corporated in 1919, Irving J. Thomas being the first mayor. It has a 
number of prosperous business concerns, magnificent churches and schools 
and a bank. 

Ralph M. Munroe, one of the first settlers of Coconut Grove, came 
there in 1877. The Brickells were at that time keeping an Indian trad- 
ing post at Fort Dallas, on the south side of the Miami River, and J. W. 
Ewan, superintendent of the Biscayne Bay Company, was also keeping 
a store on the north side of the Miami River. Mr. Munroe states that a 
permanent settlement was made in Coconut Grove when John Frow and 
family, Jack Peacock, Charles Peacock and family, the Pent family, the 
Newbolds, Roberts, Rhodes and Jenkinson settled there. These people 
raised gardens for the support of their families, but the rabbits and deer 
often played havoc with their crops. Insect life was so bothersome that 
dense smokes were built and the doors and windows of the houses kept 
closed during the night. The early settlers underwent many privations, 
but they had faith that sooner or later Coconut Grove would come into its 
own. Nature materially assisted the settlers in providing for the wants 
of their families. Scattered over the rocky pine lands to the west of Coco- 
nut Grove "coontie" grew in almost unlimited quantities. The Indians 
before had solved the problem of making starch from the roots of this 
plant. The settlers adopted the Indian's method and all commenced mak- 
ing starch, for which there was always a good market in Key West, where 
it was exchanged for the necessities of life. Indian yam was also plenti- 
ful at that time, but this product is now extinct. Mr. Munroe states that 
this yam was of a very fine quality and unlike any other. Mr. Munroe 
found Mr. and Mrs. Charles Peacock working for the Biscayne Bay 

72 



Company at Fort Dallas. Mrs. Peacock came here from England in 
July, 1875, coming from New York to Key West and from there to Coco- 
nut Grove. Mr. Munroe urged them to build a hotel in Coconut Grove. 
Lack of funds prevented them doing this for a time, but finally Mr. Mun- 
roe assisted them financially and they erected a modest hotel called the 
Bayview, afterward noted as the Peacock Inn. At that time the only 
way to secure lumber for building purposes was to gather the wreckage 
from the beach, which was very plentiful. The lumber for all the homes 
built by the early settlei's at Coconut Grove was secured in this way, ex- 
cepting the shingles and the siding, which were brought from Key West 
by schooner. 

J. W. Ewan, known as the "Duke of Dade," arrived at Coconut Grove 
in 1874. He was made superintendent of the Biscayne Bay Company and 
located at Fort Dallas, where he opened a store, was appointed postmaster 
and later was elected representative to the legislature. 

A mail route was established from Fort Dallas to Key West about 
1870. Later a route was established from Palm Beach to Fort Dallas 
and it was claimed that mail brought by the way of Palm Beach saved 
from two to four days over the Key West route. A man by the name of 
Sturtevant secured the first contract for mail service. He traveled on 
foot, following the beach on down. During the Seminole War a mail route 
was established from St. Augustine to Fort Dallas to deliver dispatches 
to the garrison. "Long John," as he was called, secured this contract. The 
Seminole War was in full force and "Long John" traveled the beach during 
the night and hid in the brush during the day for fear of being captured 
by the Seminoles. The first postoffice in Dade County was established at 
Indian Key in 1835, with Charles Howe as postmaster; the second at Key 
Biscayne in 1839. In 1850 a postoffice was established at Fort Dallas, 
with George W. Ferguson as postmaster. 

Ralph M. Munroe came to Coconut Grove from Staten Island, where 
he was acquainted with a large number of prominent people, many of 
whom have visited him at his beautiful place on Biscayne Bay. Mr. Mun- 
roe represented the Merritt Wrecking Company as their agent, his terri- 
tory extending from Jupiter to Alligator. He was correspondent for the 
Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Fisheries, as well as for the 
Museum of Natural History of New York. He is a New York registered 
naval architect and he designed a large majority of the earlier yachts on 
Biscayne Bay. In the early days Mr. Munroe was the "surgeon general," 
"consul general" and all-around man of this entire section. In sickness or 
health, when the settlers felt the need of help, Mr. Munroe was called upon. 
He states that several bodies were buried on the mound in the Royal Palm 
grounds in Miami before the hotel was built. He said that for fifteen 
years there were but two yachts that came into the harbor at Biscayne 
Bay, and on each of these yachts were persons he had met before. When 

73 



Mr. Munroe came to Coconut Grove there were but two cocoanut trees 
there, and they were on his place. There had been many others, but they 
had been destroyed when the country was storm-swept. He planted a 
fine grove of cocoanut trees on the muck land fronting the bay. The avo- 
cada, mango, sapadillo and other tropical fruit trees that adorn his place 
were planted more than fifty years ago by a northern man named Porter, 
who never owned a foot of land on the bay. Many of these trees were 
planted in nursery form and were later transplanted by Mr. Munroe. 
Mr. Muni'oe assisted in the organization of the Biscayne Bay Yacht 
Club in the spring of 1887, and was for twenty-two years commodore 
of this club. Mr. Munroe has much valuable historical data concerning 
the settlement of this section of Florida, which he has collected and 
preserved. He also has a large and valuable collection of historic photo- 
graphs covering the period from 1877 to the present, a number of which 
are reproduced in this volume. The author is indebted to Mr. Munroe 
for much authentic data for this work. 

Mr. and Mrs. Kirk Munroe arrived at Coconut Grove in 1886 and 
purchased property on the shore of Biscayne Bay, where they built a 
home, which they retained until recently. The first home was built of 
lumber secured from wreckage along the beach. Palmetto leaves were 
used for a covering for the porch. Coming from the North and from 
palatial homes, their experience as pioneers was novel, but both entered 
into the new life with much zeal and energy. After building his first 
house Mr. Munroe built a "den" a short distance from his home, and in 
this "den" he began the writing of his series of boys' stories, which has 
made him famous as an author. Mrs. Kirk Munroe is the daughter of the 
late Amelia Barr, one of the greatest of American novelists, and is her- 
self a talented writer and a contributor to many of the leading magazines 
of the country. She has been prominent in all community activities of 
Coconut Grove and her influence and that of her famous husband has been 
an inspiration to all those striving for the intellectual and moral better- 
ment of the locality. In speaking of the early settlers and her devotion 
to them, Mrs. Munroe stated that those who were there when they ar- 
rived were Charles Peacock and wife and three sons, Jack Peacock. John 
Pent, Joseph Frow and wife and sons, John and Charles, and their daugh- 
ter,, who is now Mrs. George Roberts; Samuel Rhodes, R. M. Munroe, 
James Nugent, Richard Carney. Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Seibold, Mr. 
and Mrs. John Addison, William Fuzzard and a family named Callahan 
were at Cutler. Soon afterward Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hine and Edward 
Hine arrived from Newark, New Jersey. Mrs. Hine was an ardent church 
and Sunday School worker and was of great assistance in carrying for- 
ward the interests of the little church which Mrs. Peacock, Mrs. Hine, 
Mrs. Munroe, Miss Flora McFarlane and others organized. The first 
sermon preached in Coconut Grove was delivered by a son of the late 

74 



w^ 



"J' t,-*^ 



tl 



Qll 




Peacock Inn. Coconut Grove. 1887 




A "Coontie" Starch Mill of Pioneer Days 



Harriet Beecher Stowe in the Bayview Hotel, afterward known as the 
Peacock Inn. The women of Coconut Grove were determined to built a 
church, and they let no opportunity pass to secure funds for this purpose. 
From the residents they collected what little they could in labor or cash. 
At that time many visitors made pilgrimages to the Peacock Inn during 
the fall and winter. Mrs. Peacock was a woman loved by all and she 
rarely failed in securing a donation from the tourists. Charles Peacock 
was the owner of a small sail boat, and when yachts anchored in the bay 
Mrs. Peacock would send a messenger with a polite note asking for assist- 
ance in the work of building a church, and seldom did the messenger re- 
turn without a substantial response. Contributions made it possible for 
these earnest women to have erected the first church building in Coconut 
Grove. R. M. Munroe gave the land for this church, which was called 
Union Chapel. This was afterward taken over by the Congregational 
Society, and is now the Comr^unity Club. 

Coconut Grove Library 

The Coconut Grove Library was founded June 15, 1895. According 
to Mrs. Kirk Munroe, the founders of the library were an organization 
known as the "Pine Needle Club." Mrs. Munroe was president of this 
club. She states that Mrs. Andrew Carnegie, who was making a tour 
of the southern waters, one day anchored her palatial yacht at Coconut 
Grove. The "Pine Needle Club" was holding one of its weekly sessions, 
and Mrs. Carnegie came to the meeting. She became interested in the 
club and asked if there was anything she could do to assist it. When 
informed that they lacked books, Mrs. Carnegie offered to send them a 
box of books, and upon her return home did so. This was the start of the 
library. In 1897 the library had such an accumulation of books that it 
was necessary to find a permanent home, and it was moved to a store- 
room and called the Exchange Library. In 1901 Kirk Munroe erected 
a library building on real estate donated by Ralph M. Munroe. The build- 
ing was occupied March 6, 1901. Prior to this, on March 27, 1897, a 
meeting was called to organize a library association, and on October 26. 
1900, the Coconut Grove Library Association was incorporated. The 
library today has many precious volumes, and an addition to the original 
building is planned to take care of the growth of members and books. The 
present officers of the library association are Kirk Munroe, president; Mrs. 
Kirk Munroe, treasurer, and Mrs. Ralph M. Munroe, secretary. 

BiscAYNE Bay Yacht Club 

The Biscayne Bay Yacht Club was founded in 1887. Kirk Munroe 
and Commodore Ralph M. Munroe organized the club. A clubhouse was 
built and the two Munroes designed the club flag that has been used. The 
club has been visited by yachtmen from all parts of the world. In the 

75 



early days yachtmen found the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club further south 
than any club listed, and it created a desire in the minds of these ship- 
men to explore this southern section. In this way the club became known 
to yachtmen throughout the world. The membership increased to such 
an extent that a branch club was organized in Miami and a great many 
people who spent their winters at the Royal Palm Hotel became members. 
The branch was established at the foot of Eleventh Street and a beautiful 
clubhouse was erected, with suitable docks and anchorage. Kirk Munroe 
was elected secretary at the first meeting and held this position until 1920, 
when ill health caused him to resign. Ralph M. Munroe served as com- 
modore of the club from its organization until he retired in 1909. He 
was made a life member of the club in recognition of his long and honorable 
service. 

Housekeepers Club 

The Housekeepers Club was organized February 19, 1891. It is said 
to be the first woman's club founded in the State. Those present at the 
first meeting were Miss Flora McFarlane, Mrs. Kirk Munroe, Mrs. John 
Frow, Mrs. Charles Peacock and Mrs. Newbold. Miss Flora McFarlane 
was chosen president. At first there was little enthusiasm shown in the 
new organization, only two members being present at the second meet- 
ing. Through the active influence, however, of Miss McFarlane, Mrs. 
Charles Peacock, Mrs. Kirk Munroe, Mrs. R. M. Munroe, and others, inter- 
est was aroused and the attendance increased and new members were 
secured. From a small beginning the Housekeepers Club has become a 
power for good. It has brought the members together to discuss ways 
of bettering the community and of bringing more people to Coconut Grove. 

Bird Sanctuary 

Coconut Grove is a bird sanctuary, the feathered inhabitants being 
protected by law. The town council cooperated with the Coconut Grove 
Audubon Society and passed an ordinance making it unlawful to shoot, trap 
or in any manner kill any birds of any kind within the corporate limits 
of the town, excepting only the cooper hawk, shaip shinned hawk and 
great horned owl. 



76 



T 



MIAMI BEACH 

HE northern part of what is now Miami Beach was but a few 
short years ago a dense wilderness of hammock trees, pahnetto 
and other useless tropical growth. Today Miami Beach is a 
playground for the pleasure loving, with magnificent estates 
for the great and near-great, the polo and golfing center of 
America, with flower-bordered canals, palm boulevards and wave-washed 
islands. 

Miami Beach was originally called Ocean Beach. Along the small sand 
dunes was a skirt of cocoanut trees. The usual accepted story of the growth 
of these trees was that at some unknown time a schooner loaded with nuts 
in the hull was shipwrecked along the coast and that the nuts were washed 
ashore and took root. This plausible story was generally accepted as true, 
though now conceded to be pure fiction. The fact that the trees were 
growing in well-defined rows shattered the story of the wrecked schooner. 
Early in the eighties there lived in Monmouth County, New Jersey, two 
men who had heard the oft repeated story of the great fortunes made by 
cocoanut planters. E. T. Field and Ezra Osborn, who were ambitious to 
make a fortune, purchased from the Government a large part of the ocean 
frontage from Jupiter to Cape Florida, for which they paid from seventy- 
five cents to one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. They were going 
to become cocoanut planters. They had been told that no clearing of the 
land was necessary and that all they had to do was to plant the nuts. They 
figured that each tree would drop one mature nut each day and as they 
planned to plant four hundred and fifty thousand trees a great fortune 
seemed within their grasp. They secured a schooner and sent it to Trini- 
dad to secure the nuts for planting. Men had to be brought from New 
Jersey to do the work. The nuts were scattered along the coast for con- 
venient planting. It required three winters to complete the planting of 
the nuts. A large proportion of them sprouted, but the beach was in- 
fested with rabbits and a large number of the young trees were destroyed. 
John S. Collins, one of the leading horticulturists of New Jersey, also 
lived in Monmouth County, New Jersey, and Field and Osborn consulted 
r. Collins in regard to their experience, and Mr. Collins was induced to 
purchase a half interest in these lands. After a thorough investigation 
of this tropical section and being convinced that there were other lines 
of horticulture and agriculture more promising than growing cocoanuts, 
Mr. Collins purchased the other half interest in these lands, which made 
him the owner of si.xteen hundred and seventy acres of ocean front, ex- 
tending from Jupiter to the Norris Cut, lying between the ocean and Bis- 
cayne Bay and embracing four and one-half miles. A large portion of 

77 



this land was covered with blue palmetto. Mr. Collins, being an expert 
farmer and a splendid judge of soils, was convinced that if the land could 
be cleared at a reasonable cost the growing of early vegetables would be 
a profitable investment. The clearing of the land by hand labor was 
found to be about one hundred dollars an acre, so he used a traction engine 
for the purpose and was able to clear the land at a cost of thirty dollars 
an acre. Two hundred acres was laid out and planted in vegetables. As 
there was no way to get to Miami to deliver his product to the railroad, 
he dug a canal from Biscayne Bay to a small grass lake which connected 
with Indian Creek. This, however, proved too slow and in 1912 he built 
the Collins bridge connecting Miami and Miami Beach. The bridge is two 
and one-half miles in length and is said to be one of the longest wagon 
bridges in the world. The Collins properties are now incorporated as the 
Miami Beach Improvement Company. The company has planted about 
two hundred acres in avocado and budded mangoes. However, the bulk 
of the trees planted are the Trapp avocado, a late variety. They planted 
about nine thousand budded trees. The company has the largest tract of 
budded avocados and mangoes in the world. The grove is a most profitable 
investment, the fruit selling as high as twenty-five dollars for a crate of 
three dozen. The building of the Collins canal and the Collins bridge 
started the great work of development of Miami Beach. Millions of dol- 
lars has since been poured into these developments and fortunes are being 
expended by the wealthy classes in building "millionaire" homes. The 
beach has been incorporated as a city and is now a thriving municipality. 
Some time after the awakening of Miami, Dick Smith and a number 
of others conceived a plan to build a casino or bathing house at the south 
end of Miami Beach and establish a fen-y from Miami to the beach. The 
only conveyance to the beach at that time was row boats. Mr. Smith suc- 
ceeded in interesting others and a company was formed to carry out his 
plans. The casino was built — a wooden structure, a part of which is now 
the Smith casino. Docks were built on the east and west side of Bis- 
cayne Bay and ferry boats put on. However, the venture did not prove 
a success. Later a company was organized, composed of Miami residents, 
and a large tract of land was purchased at the beach. Among those in- 
terested in this project, called the Biscayne Bay Company, were J. N. 
Lummus, J. A. McDonald and J. C. Baile. The land purchased was largely 
a mangrove swamp, with a skirt of small sand dunes on the ocean side. 
The mangrove swamp was to be filled by pumping the sand from the 
bottom of the bay. The casino was leased to Avery Smith, of Connecticut. 
A town site was laid out by the new owners of the land, but the company 
did not make the success they had planned. Later, Carl G. Fisher, an 
Indianapolis millionaire, became interested in the improvement of the 
beach and purchased a tract of land from the Miami Beach Improvement 
Company and arranged to take over the Biscayne Bay Company's hold- 

78 



ings. Mr. Fisher immediately began extensive development of the beach. 
He filled in the mangrove swamp with sand and muck from the bay, re- 
claiming about one thousand acres of land. A town site was laid out, 
hard surface streets built and shade trees planted. T. J. Pancoast, secre- 
tary of the Miami Beach Improvement Company, built the first house, a 
beautiful concrete structure near the ocean. John S. Collins also built a 
fine home on the ocean front, as did Mr. Fisher. Avery Smith came in 
control of the original casino at the south end of the peninsula and in- 
stalled expensive bath houses and a swimming pool. Later. Dan Hardie 
purchased property on the ocean front and erected a large casino, with 
a number of bath rooms, a swimming pool and other conveniences. The 
Miami Beach Improvement Company erected a large and attractive casino 
and dance hall at the north end of the beach. Carl G. Fisher and his 
associates purchased this property and erected a magnificent building of 
Spanish architectural design, said to be the finest building of its kind 
in the South. The Bay View Company are reclaiming nearly a thousand 
acres north of Miami Beach, which they are laying out in lots. A retain- 
ing wall has been built, thousands of shade trees have been planted and 
hard surfaced streets constructed. In 1920 Mr. Fisher completed the 
magnificent Flamingo Hotel, one of the finest resort hotels in the world, 
which is the mecca for men of wealth throughout America. Here, also, is 
one of the greatest aquariums in the world, established by James A. 
Allison. The finest yacht racing course in the country is at Miami Beach, 
and yearly national yacht races are held. On this course the fast racing 
boats in America have beat all racing records. Magnificent golf and polo 
grounds are also maintained. The vast expenditure of wealth at Miami 
Beach has made the "wilderness blossom like the rose," and millionaires 
from all parts of the world have built palatial winter homes. 



79 



o 



TOWNS AND VILLAGES 

NE of the signs of progress is the springing up of prosperous 
towns and villages in Dade County. These towns and villages 
were once an unknown quantity. Where they now stand was 
a wilderness twenty-five years ago, with only here and there 
a daring homesteader who had braved the solitude of the 
wilderness. At that time these rocky lands along this southera coast 
could be purchased at almost any price. There was also more or less 
government land open for homestead, which was nearly all taken up 
within a few years. The extending of the Florida East Coast railroad 
south was the great inspiration that first started the trend of the people 
south. Coconut Grove was at that time an old settlement and had 
reached considerable popularity as a tourist resort, though the only trans- 
portation facilities was the slow sail boat lines running with more or less 
regularity to Key West. Coconut Grove is mentioned at length in a 
separate chapter. 

Larkins, the first village south of Coconut Grove, has in a few short 
years become a real, hustling village, with several large packing houses 
and several mercantile establisments, hotel, and other small business 
houses. 

Kendall, two miles further south, is another prosperous village, with 
local stores and a large packing house. Here Mr. Flagler located his sev- 
enty-acre citrus grove, employing John J. Hinson as superintendent. This 
grove brought Kendall into prominence as a citrus-growing section. 

Perrine, a few miles further south, was named after the late Dr. Henry 
Perrine. Some of the early-planted groves were put out here. There are 
packing houses, a splendid concrete school building, stores, etc. 

Peters, a mile or so further south, was named after Thomas J. Peters, 
the tomato king. Here he has a beautiful home, several packing houses, 
hotel and store. 

The next place south on the Ingraham Highway is Goulds. The 
Tampico farms are located here, owned by J. C. Baile and associates. There 
are several packing houses, stores and a hotel. Goulds came into public 
notice soon after the railroad was extended to that point. 

Modelo is a small village about two miles south of Goulds. This is a 
growing town and is noted for its citrus, avocado and mango groves. 

Princeton, one of the largest villages south of Miami, was founded by 
Gaston Drake, who located the mills of the Drake Lumber Company there. 
These are the largest lumber mills south of Jacksonville. There are several 

80 



stores, churches and the general conveniences of towns of like size. A 
large portion of the lumber manufactured is sold for export. 

Homestead. This place was for a time the terminus of the Florida 
East Coast Railroad and became the most important station south of 
Miami in Dade County. Here the railroad company erected a great water 
plant during the building of the extension of the railroad. Ti-ain-loads of 
water cars were carried south daily and distributed to the points reached 
by the extension. Homestead soon began to put on the appearance of a 
real village. People from all sections of the country located there and in 
the nearby country. Homestead has two banks, a large number of mer- 
cantile establisments and other shops. It is an incorporated village and is 
lighted by electricity. 

Florida City was laid out by the Tatum Brothers Investment Com- 
pany, who own a large tract of land there, including a large amount of 
marsh land lying between the mainland and Biscayne Bay. Florida City 
has the distinction of being the last village on the mainland of Florida. It 
has a large ice and cold storage plant, churches, school and the usual 
business houses. The lands lying east of Florida City are largely marl and 
have proven to be excellent lands for general farming purposes and vege- 
table growing. In order to drain the east marsh lands, Tatum Brothers 
excavated a drainage canal from the marl land at Florida City east to the 
Biscayne Bay, besides many lateral canals. 

A few miles west of Florida City and Homestead is Long View, famous 
as the home of the looms of the Rag Rug and Carpet Company. Mrs. 
Loveland is the leader of this enterprise. The products of these looms 
have become famous throughout the entire country. Tourists purchase 
them and ship to their northern homes. It has become a staple industry. 

In noting these towns and villages, little has been said regarding the 
back country. From Miami south to Florida City the back country is 
settled with a live, progressive people ; not only taking in the long line of 
pine lands, but going back to the west into the Everglades. Citrus, avocado 
and mango groves of the finest quality abound. Rock roads leading from 
the Ingraham Highway extend far into the country disti'icts and into the 
Everglades. West from Homestead is the celebrated Krome grove of 
citrus and tropical fruits. West and south from Miami bordering on the 
Everglades are many of the finest groves in Florida. 

Buena Vista, the first town north of Miami, was settled early by a few 
people. The first hotel there was the Buena Vista House, owned and 
operated by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Courley. Buena Vista has grown rapidly 
during the past few years and when the boundaries of Miami were extended 
it took in about half of the village. Before the railroad was built there 
was a dock on Biscayne Bay where schooners plying between Miami and 
other points docked, the few settlers receiving their supplies from these 
boats. Among the first settlers were Captain Samuel Filer and C. T. 

81 



Merritt. Dr. MacGonigle, a retired minister from St. Augustine, purchased 
a tract of land there and planted a grove. Buena Vista has made wonder- 
ful strides and now the greater part of the village has been laid out in sub- 
divisions. JMagnificent homes have been erected there. There are numer- 
ous mercantile establishments there and the village is counted one of the 
most prosperous along the east coast. 

Lemon City, the next village north, is an old settlement, dating back 
to the time before the railroad was extended to Miami. Here was one 
of the largest docks on Biscayne Bay, the schooners coming up the bay 
through the old Lemon City channel. Among the first settlers were 
William Filer, who was for years prominent in the politics of the county. 
Mr. Filer came from Key West. Mr. and Mrs. Carey also came to Lemon 
City in the early days. They erected the first hotel there, where E. A. 
Waddell made his headquarters, coming to and from Miami daily on foot. 

Little River, a mile or so north, is the next village, and within the past 
few years has become an important trucking and fruit center. A consid- 
erable portion of the land in the vicinity of Little River has been subdivided 
and laid out in village lots. T. A. Winfield and family were among the 
early settlers and Mr. Winfield planted the largest citrus grove in that 
section. Little River became famous as a vegetable center in the develop- 
ment of that section. Thomas J. Peters settled there with his family, as 
did also William Freeman, who planted tomatoes. 

Arch Creek is the next village north. Near here is the famous Natural 
Bridge which spans Arch Creek. The creek plunges beneath the ground, 
forming a natural bridge, which has been in use as a public road for many 
years. Like the Natural Bridge of Virginia, its fame as a natural wonder 
has spread all over the world. Here Robert E. McDonald, who at one time 
represented Dade County in the Legislature, has deeded to the Boy Scouts 
a good-sized camping ground, where the scouts hold their annual meetings. 

Ojus is the next point north. This section came into prominence as a 
vegetable and fruit growing section. In late years it has become noted 
for its rock quarries. The character of the rock there is different from the 
ordinary rock which abounds in this southern section. It has become the 
most popular rock for road building in the State, and is used largely for 
surfacing the roadways. The Florida East Coast Railroad is resurfacing 
their road beds with this rock. The Maul Rock Company operates great 
dredges and the rock is mined and shipped to all parts of the country. 

Going north, the next village is Fulford, noted for its vegetable out- 
put. R. E. McDonald built the first hotel, which has become a popular 
place, usually filled to capacity from fall to spring. 

Skirting Biscayne Bay east of the Dixie Highway, the land is nearly 
all in cultivation. Splendid homes have been erected and large orchards 
have been planted. To the west of the Dixie Highway, north of Buena 
Vista, reaching far back into the Everglades, are many substantial im- 

82 



provements that tell the great future of the cr/untry. Along the Miami- 
Okeechobee canal the developments are of a .most substantial character. 
The Pennsylvania Sugar Company have 120,'ijOO acres of Everglade lands 
and for two years have been developing one^f the largest sugar planta- 
tions in the country. They have over seven h^jndred acres planted in sugar 
cane and have other hundreds cleared, plowed and made ready for planting. 
The company is dredging a canal ten miley in length through their prop- 
erty and are putting in lateral canals. Thay have also established a small 
sugar refinery for testing out the cane. T}^e company has tested a portion 
of the cane grown on its drained muck, mi-jnufacturing white sugar. The 
test has been satisfactory and preparation- is being made to carry on the 
work until the whole acreage is planted i^n cane and one of the largest 
refineries in the South erected. ? 

Lying east of the Pennsylvania Sug;ir Company's holdings is the 
Russian Colony. This colony owns eleven -thousand acres of Everglade 
lands. For the past three years they have had a large acreage planted in 
various vegetables and general farm crops.^ They are enthusiastic over the 
result of their crops. , 

To the east is the Curtiss-Bright pi? Cr^tion and dairy farm, consisting 
of twelve thousand acres of Everglade land? The Curtiss-Bright ranch has 
the largest dairy in Dade County ; also the largest poultry yards. Several 
thousa. ^ sheep and many goats are a p4rt of the stock on the farm. 
Hialeah is a new town being laid out by t^e Curtiss-Bright people, as a 
gateway to the Everglades. The new tovn is to have paved streets, 
sewerage, sidewalks, water and electric lighto. 

East from the Curtiss-Bright ranch i^i, the Marcus A. Milam dairy. 
Mr. Milam was among the first to start in the dairy business — at a time 
when it was thought impossible to raise Vull-blooded cattle here. He 
selected the Jersey breed and has religious)'^ held to his first choice. His 
Jersey cattle have taken first premiums at both county and State fairs. 

A little way north is the dairy of Dr. J. DuPuis. He also commenced 
in the dairy business early in the history of Dade County, while the ticks 
were abundant. Dr. DuPuis is a graduate physician and his dairy interests 
are a side line. When he commenced he chose the full-blooded Dutch White 
Belt cattle, but has not kept entirely to this breed, having also full-blood 
Holsteins. He has a Holstein cow that has the highest record of any cow 
in the United States for giving milk. 



83 



/ 



\ 

MISCELLANEOUS 

Mr. FlaglekJ^s Fikst Public Address 



M" URING one of the Dc^de County Fairs Mr. Flagler was in Miami 

Dand the writer asker|; him if he would deliver an address to the 
people during the C-.,'ening. Mr. Flagler replied: "I have never 
delivered a public f.ddress in my life ; I am not a speaker, I am 
^ diffident, and I cannot possibly comply with your request." I 
continued to urge him to say jeven a few words to the people, telling him 
that the people really expectei^,. him to meet them and talk to them. After 
much urging, Mr. Flagler con.^ented, saying: "I will do the best I can, but 
what I have to say will be very brief. I shall really be delighted to meet the 
people face to face and speak ot a few of my aspirations and plans for 
them, the pioneers of Dade County." Mr. Flagler's address was short, 
but his words and his presenci encouraged the people in the work of not 
only building a city but of majcing Dade County the most populous in the 
State. Mr. Flagler said in pc'rt: 

"Friends and Fellow Citi;jens: This is my maiden speech. I am cer- 
tainly glad to meet so many ot- the citizens of Dade County face to face, as 
I recognize that in order that .j may complete my plans for Miami and Dade 
County I must have the coopsration of its citizenship. Not that I have 
no aspirations and determinations in doing what I can, but I certainly have 
very great aspirations and confidence in what the men and women who 
have come and are coming heit-, will accomplish in the near future. To those 
I owe a debt of gratitude for I'-aving their homes and coming to what seems 
now an unpromising countryf* The future has great things in store for 
Miami and Dade County, not only because of the millions I am spending 
here but because of those brave men and women who, sharing my inspira- 
tion and enthusiasm, have come here." 

At one time Mr. Flagler was visiting Miami, during the construction 
of the Royal Palm Hotel, he expressed some surprise that the people who 
were here did not purchase lots and build homes. In discussing this phase 
of the conditions here John B. Reilly explained to Mr. Flagler that the 
larger part of the men then employed here were men who had lost their for- 
tunes in the great freeze in the old orange belt and that it required all that 
they earned to supply their own wants and the wants of their families who 
had not yet come here. Mr. Flagler replied : "This explains the situation, 
but we must have homes for these people, and we must build them. Let's 
take a walk around and select a place to erect houses that we can rent or 
sell to these men ; they can't live without homes." So Mr. Flagler and Mr. 

84 



Reilly started on an investigating tour, Mr. Reillx leading the way to the 
bay front. After reaching there Mr. Reilly suggesf^ed that along the bay 
front would be a desirable place to build the cotta-j^es. Mr. Flagler waited 
a moment befoi'e answering, then said : "I thinly you are mistaken, John ; 
these lots will sell for high prices to wealthy people who will build winter 
homes. No, I do not think this is just the place.^. Let's take a further look. 
Mr. Reilly then piloted Mr. Flagler over the rocK 3 and sand to Fourteenth 
street and suggested that street as a good pla^e to build. Mr. Flagler 
thought a moment and said: "You are right this ^ime. We will build some 
cottages on this street, but we want more room." ^They then visited Thir- 
teenth street and Mr. Flagler decided that these i.wo locations were ideal 
and the order went forth to build cottages. Ther^ Mr. Flagler said there 
must be some cottages for the employees of the railroad, as the men could 
not live in tents. A trip was made to the northern '^art of the city, a loca- 
tion chosen and the order went forth to "build the. O^pttages here." Thus 
the first building of residences fell upon the shoulders of Mr. Flagler. These 
incidents show the implicit faith Mr. Flagler had in ihe future of Miami 
and his willingness to spend a large amount of nionev to start the build- 
ing of homes here. "v 

The Mosquito of Other Days I 

Outside of the idea, which at that time generally prevailed, that the 
land in this vicinity was of no value for agricultural or h6rticultural uses, 
the fact that each year Miami was scourged with swarms of -mosquitos was 
perhaps one of the early stumbling blocks in building up Mi ami and Dade 
County. The fact is that in the early days here the mosqUj^j^o was almost 
unbearable. It took real courage to settle here at that time, yr {, the people 
on the whole were willing to undergo much discomfiture in older to stay 
here. In July, 1897, an excursion was run from Jacksonville toJMiami. A 
large number of people came here on the excursion, which arriv d late on a 
Saturday night. It so happened that it was the writer's turn to v^i'each that 
night in the Presbyterian tent at the corner of Avenue D and fourteenth 
street. When I reached the tent eveiy seat was occupied and there were 
many standing around the door who could not gain admittance. The mos- 
quitos were swarming in untold numbers about the congregation. I felt that 
there would be little use to preach to a congregation that was being 
bitten to a point almost unbearable. I proposed to the congregation 
that we sing "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow," pronounce the 
benediction and adjourn the service. The people said "Where shall we 
go?" There were no houses at that time, and they said "Go ahead," which 
I did. Never in my life have I been so tortured, and the people were tor- 
tui-ed likewise. The Miami Hotel was partially built; the doors and win- 
dows were not placed, but the beds were in each room and every room was 
occupied. After the service in the tent closed, which was short, the con- 
gregation started out to secure mosquito nets if possible. The merchants 

85 



opened their stores and t ne crowd made a rush for them. In less than an 
hour every mosquito b?*!" in the city was sold and hundreds of people were 
seen with these protect(Trs wrapped about them. 

This incident is mentioned to illustrate what the first settlers in Miami 
had to undergo. Each yejvr, as the city has been built up, there has been 
less mosquitoes, until now there are but few of these pests left. It is ex- 
pected that within a year or so Miami, like Havana, will be absolutely free 
from them. 

"^Community Names 
/ 

The name "Miam'^' is a Seminole Indian word meaning "Sweet 

Water," and was applie(^ by the Seminoles to the river which flows through 

the city. Prior to ISfili, when Miami was incorporated, the settlement 

was known as Fort D'-alas, from the army post maintained here. 

Miami has been 'lariously named. It has been called the "Wonder 
City of the World," ""The City of Opportunity," and other popular so- 
briquets, but the nanie that clings to it is the "Magic City." This name was 
first given to the city by the author of this volume. In an issue of the 
Florida Homeseekev, of which he was then editor, Mr. Blackman called 
attention to the co^iiing greatness of Miami, declaring that the city was a 
"Magic City" in tlie strides that it was making. The name has clung to the 
city to this day. ' 

Probably the oldest name of all in this section is that of Biscayne 
Bay, and for many years this section of Florida was known as the "Bis- 
cayne Bay co.ftntry." It is said that the name was patterned after the 
Bay of Bisc'i5^ne in Europe. 

Dade (^'ounty is named in honor of Major Francis L. Dade, whose 
forces wer(V massacred by Seminoles near what is now Bushnell, in 1835. 
Of his forcfe of eight officers and 100 privates, only one private escaped to 
tell the stoyK-y. 

Cocoryjt Grove, just south of Miami, is named from a large grove 
of cocoanu^, trees on the bay shore. For many years the residents of that 
town spelled the name "Cocoanut Grove," but when the city was incorpo- 
rated two years ago, the "a" was omitted in the charter, through the efforts 
of Kirk Munroe. 

Buena Vista is said to have been named by Charles Crowley, a pioneer 
resident. 

Lemon City derived its name from a lemon grove planted by Samuel 
Filer. 

Arch Creek is named from the small stream that flows under a natural 
bridge near there. The Dixie Highway crosses the natural bridge. 

Names of pioneer families are perpetuated by the names of "Perrine," 
"Goulds," "Larkin" and "Peters," villages south of this city. 

Princeton was named by Gaston Drake, local lumberman, after the 
university of which he is a graduate. 

86 



The Redlands section received its name from some reddish soil, and 
probably those who first gave the section the name had in mind the Red- 
lands of California. 

Homestead was named from the fact that there were many people who 
secured homesteads in that vicinity under the federal land laws. 

Florida City, promoted by the Tatum interests, was formerly known 
as Detroit, the name later being changed by the residents of that town. 

Names of subdivisions in Miami follow no particular rule, the names 
being selected by the real estate men who develop each subdivision. The 
names in these subdivisions were selected at random, and the opening of 
the large number of these subdivisions with the rapid growth of Miami, 
caused much confusion, with the result that last fall a new street-naming 
system was adopted. 



^^^ 



87 



BIOGRAPHICAL 



EVEREST GEORGE SEWELL 

There is a progressive life in every community — an unavoidable con- 
tinuity of existence and development. Miami, with its countless charms, 
might have possibly stumbled blindly to goal, but intelligent and deliberate 
progress along clearly distinguishable and carefully selected lines is the 
true mission of city builders. The progressive life of a community is re- 
flected in the organized activities of her citizens to promote the general wel- 
fare and advance the worthy cause of civic improvement ; and organization 
implies leadership — leadership that will dare great undertakings and in- 
spire others to high endeavor. In every community have been found men 
born to leadership — men who have dominated by reason of their superior 
faculties, natural endowment and force of character. In this connection 
Miami is fortunate in having as her civic leader Everest George Sewell, 
president of the Miami Chamber of Commerce, a man whose broad public 
spirit and great administrative ability well qualify him for distinguished 
public service. He has given generously of his superb powers in furthering 
the industrial and civic upbuilding of the city long honored by his citizen- 
ship and his name merits a conspicuous place on the roster of those who 
have worthily consei-ved such progress. It is no disparagement of others to 
say here that no citizen of this community has given more lavishly of his 
time and fine abilities to the great cause of civic advancement. And he has 
achieved results that are epochal and far-reaching. His resourceful 
ability and prolific entei-prise have been powerful elements in making- 
Miami the wonder and admiration of a continent. 

No man is better known in the public life of Miami than Mr. Sewell, 
for he has witnessed the growth of the city since the early drama of its 
foundation and has from pioneer days been prominent and active in all 
work of community expansion and upbuilding. He organized the Mer- 
chants Association about 1900, which was the first civic organization of 
the city, and served as its president. In this capacity he promoted the 
fifteenth anniversary celebration of Miami in 1911, the greatest celebration 
known in the city up to that time. In 1915 he became chairman of the pub- 
licity bureau of the Miami Chamber of Commerce and it was he who first 
conceived the idea of advertising Miami to the world through the media of 
high-class literature. He wrote the first advertisements and placed them, 
which was the means of bringing to Miami that season more than enough 
people to fill all the hotels. He was made president of the Chamber of Com- 
merce in 1916 and that year he raised a fund of $21,000 and brought the 
first band to the city under the auspices of the Chamber. The success of 
that season started the building activity in Miami and building permits 

91 



jumped to a million dollars. For the season of 1917-1918 he was instru- 
mental in raising a fund of $31,000 and employed Arthur Pryor's band. A 
check of the hotels revealed the fact that over 10,000 people were turned 
away that season. For the season of 1918-1919 he was successful in having 
the advertising appropriation increased and again employed Pryor's band 
and people were again turned away. Retiring from the presidency during 
the season of 1919-1920, he served as chairman of the waterways bureau 
and in this capacity did effective work in raising funds for the work of this 
bureau and in seeing that the funds were well spent. He was called again to 
the leadership of the Chamber of Commerce in April, 1920, and inaugurated 
the plan for lengthening the Florida tourist season. He secured the co- 
operation of other Florida cities in this effort and induced the railroads to 
establish an earlier train service to Florida. He showed his own faith in 
the feasibility of a longer season by employing Piyor's band for an engage- 
ment of 17 weeks instead of 12 weeks as had been done before. In further- 
ance of his plan initiating a longer season he proposed an elaborate enter- 
tainment the first week in December to fittingly inaugurate the commence- 
ment of the season, and the beautiful Palm Fete festival staged in Miami 
during the week of December 7 was the result. This magnificent spectacle 
entailed an expenditure of over $33,000 and attracted to Miami people from 
many remote centers. In resuming the presidency of the Chamber of Com- 
merce in April, 1920, Mr. Sewell formulated a definite program as the goal 
toward which they should work. This program embraced 26 points or im- 
provements, chief among which were 30 feet of water for Miami and the 
widening of the channel, a water front park, the building of a convention 
hall and a municipal pier, work for appropriation to double the size of the 
Miami postofRce, drainage of Broward and Southern Drainage District, 
completion of the canal to Lake Okeechobee and promotion of railroad to 
Okeechobee and to Chevalier and Big Cypress, early completion of the 
white way lighting system and the early starting of the season, with pro- 
vision for three public entertainments during the season, one at the begin- 
ning of the season, one at mid-season and one at the close. Mr. Sewell's 
productive energies will be directed toward the fulfillment of this progres- 
sive program and it is a fair assumption to say that the major part of this 
program will be moulded into deeds. 

It is essentially impossible to offer in a work of this province an ade- 
quate resume of Mr. Sewell's varied activities touching and influencing the 
civic interests of Miami. His career and the histoiy of the city are so in- 
dissolubly interwoven that they are very much one and the same, he having 
witnessed its every vicissitude and played a large part in its wondrous 
growth. He was largely instrumental in getting the city council to adopt the 
ordinance compelling abutting property owners to pay in part for street 
paving, which has been responsible for the city's street development. The 
white way lighting system is his idea and he used his influence to get the 

92 



city council to adopt the ordinance forcing the city to put wires under the 
ground. He has been particularly active in the effort to secure deep water 
for Miami, and has visited the national capital in the interest of this pro- 
ject and discussed the matter with government engineers and senators. 
During his administrations as president of the Chamber of Commerce he 
has been successful in securing over $400,000 in appropriations from Con- 
gress for harbor pui-poses here. One of his most notable achievements in 
behalf of the interests of Miami was in 1917, when he secured for this local- 
ity the Dinner Key Naval Aero Station, which the government spent over a 
million dollars in building and where the pay roll in 1918 exceeded a million 
dollars. He also assisted in getting the Marine Aviation Station located at 
Curtiss Field, where the government had 1,400 men, and the Aero Gunners' 
School for the Army at Chapman Field, which cost the government nearly 
a million dollars. In these war activities the government spent in the im- 
mediate vicinity of Miami a total of over $4,000,000, which had the effect of 
stimulating business conditions and precluded any possibility of a slump in 
real estate values. Mr. Sewell was re-elected president of the Chamber of 
Commerce at the annual election in April, 1921, for the fifth time, and 
chairman of the Publicity Bureau for the seventh time. He promises a gen- 
eral fund of $110,000 for the coming fiscal year. His motto is to make 
Miami the biggest and best tourist resort city in the country, and the rec- 
ord of his achievements is sufficient prophecy for the future. 

Everest George Sewell was born in Hartwell, Georgia, September 17, 
1874, and is a son of Dr. Jeremiah W. Sewell, a practicing physician and 
surgeon, who brought his family from Georgia to Florida and settled in 
Kissimmee. E. G. Sewell came to Florida with his parents in 1886 and for 
ten years thereafter resided in Kissimmee, acquiring his education in the 
public schools of that community. He came to Miami in 1896, the year the 
city was founded, and here, in company with his brother, John, opened the 
first men's furnishing store in the city. Their establishment was the second 
of any kind to be opened hei'e. The firm of Sewell Brothers, known as 
"Miami's First Store," has steadily prospered through the years and to- 
day conducts the largest clothing and men's furnishings enterprise in 
Miami. 

Mr. Sewell married, June 27, 1906, Adele M. Wait, of Greenville, Illi- 
nois, and they are both prominent in the social and club life of Miami. As 
the official spokesman for Miami Mr. Sewell has ever stood exponent of the 
most leal and loyal citizenship and has thrown the force of his strong in- 
dividuality and sterling integrity into making Miami famous throughout 
the world and he has achieved a success such as few of his compeers have 
attained. A man of marked intellectual energy, he possesses the silent, but 
powerful force that attract men — the mental qualities and personal mag- 
netism that draw men to him and the tact and power that make men as well 
as events subserve his pui-pose. He fills a large place in the ranks of the en- 

93 



terprising and public-spirited men of his day and generation and the lus- 
tre of his accomplishments forni no inconsiderable chapter in the histoiy of 
Miami, to whose interests he has given the best of an essentially strong and 
loyal nature. 

JOHN B. REILLY 

John B. Reilly is one of the pioneer citizens of Miami, his residence 
here dating from the foundation of the community, and his interests, since 
the early epoch of the city's development, have been identified with its every 
phase of progress. He has contributed much indeed to the well being of the 
community and to the advancement of its noiTnal and legitimate growth. 
He served as the city's first mayor and during the intervening years his 
productive energies have been effectively directed along the lines of industry 
and business enterprise which conserve the general welfare. Time and pro- 
lific enterprise have wrought wonderful changes in this locality since he 
took up his residence here, but his name will ever be inseparably linked 
with that of Miami and the city in its policies, its institutions, its standards 
and ideals has profited greatly by the influence of his work and individu- 
ality. 

Mr. Riley came to Miami from the state of Connecticut, where he was 
born May 18, 1870. He was reared in the place of his nativity and acquired 
his education at New Haven. In 1886, at the age of 16, he began his inde- 
pendent career as a shipping clerk in a manufacturing establishment at 
Branford, Connecticut, and in 1893 turned his face southward. Coming to 
Florida, he accepted a position as bookkeeper and cashier for the firm of 
McGuire & McDonald, contractors for Heniy M. Flagler and builders of all 
his famous east coast hotels. Mr. Reilly came to Miami in 1896, the year 
the city was founded, and since then he has acted as manager of the Flagler 
interests here. From that time to this he has taken an active part in the 
development and building up of Miami. He served as first mayor of the 
city, holding that position for four consecutive terms, and had much to do 
with the direction given to the settlement at the beginning. He also served 
as United States Commissioner for the southern district of Florida, having 
been appointed to this position in 1897. As an active real estate dealer he 
represented the Model Land Company and other large and important cor- 
porate interests. He sei-ved as president of the Miami Chamber of Com- 
merce, then known as the Board of Trade, and has always been active in the 
cause of civic advancement and a factor in the promotion of substantial en- 
terprise. As the financial agent for large and important interests he is a 
prominent factor in the business world and a leader in important undertak- 
ings. In March, 1914, he became associated with the developments of 
James Deering Property and has been Mr. Deering's financial agent con- 
tinuously to the present time. He is a director of the Bank of Bay Bis- 
cayne, a director of Reilly, Stoms & Paxon, and a director of Miami Realty 
Corporation. 

94 



Mr. Reilly married, September 10, 1895, Marie McDonald, daughter of 
the late Joseph A. McDonald, and they have three children : Joseph Albert, 
who has the distinction of being the first child born in the City of Miami ; 
Eleanore Marie, the wife of Joseph Herbert Pero, of Springfield, Massachu- 
setts; and Wallace. Mr. Reilly is Past Exalted Ruler of the Benevolent 
and Protective Order of Elks, and is a member of the Miami Rotary Club. 
Distinctively a man of affairs, he has long filled an important place in the 
community and during all the years of his i-esidence here he has repeatedly 
proven his fidelity to all those interests which feature most strongly as 
factors in good government and general improvement. 

JAINIES M. JACKSON, M. D. 

It is not always easy to discover and define the hidden forces that have 
moved a life of ceaseless activity and large professional success; little more 
can be done than to note their manifestation. The career of Dr. James M. 
Jackson, pioneer physician and surgeon and pioneer citizen of Miami, has 
been so closely interwoven with the history of the community that it is al- 
together fitting that specific mention should be made of the large part he has 
played in the progress and development of south Florida. As dean of the 
medical fraternity of Dade County, he has wielded marked influence in 
his profession, as well as in the broad domain of civic life, while his techni- 
cal and academic scholarship and his dignity of purpose and high profes- 
sional ideals have gained for him wide and popular recognition. 

Dr. Jackson is a native of Hamilton County, Florida, born April 10, 
1866, and is a son of Dr. James M. and Mary Glenn (Shands) Jackson, both 
of whom were natives of the state of South Carolina. Dr. James M. Jack- 
son, Sr., was a graduate from one of the first medical colleges in New Or- 
leans, the establishment of the institution having antedated that of Tulane 
University. He served through the entire Civil War in the Confederate 
Army, first as a private and then as a surgeon. He practiced medicine in 
the state of Florida for nearly half a century, dying at the home of his son, 
the subject of this review, in Miami, May 9, 1911, at the age of 80 years. 
His wife died March 30, 1907, at the age of 69. 

Dr. James M. Jackson was the only child of his parents. He was 
i-eared in Bronson, Levy County, Florida, and acquired his early education 
in the East Florida Seminary at Gainesville. He later entered Emory Col- 
lege at Oxford, Georgia, from which institution he was graduated in 1884, 
with the degree of A. B., immediately afterward beginning the study of 
medicine. He worked for some time under the preceptorship of his father 
and was graduated from the Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York 
with the degree of M. D. in 1887. From that time to the present he has been 
actively engaged in the practice of medicine in the state of Florida. After 
practicing for eight years as an associate of his father at Bronson, he came, 
in 1896, to Miami and is one of the pioneers of the city, for in the same year 

95 



the railroad was completed to the town and the community sprang into 
existence. Dr. Jackson has practiced his profession with marked success 
in Miami since that time and today occupies a prominent place among phy- 
sicians and surgeons of the state. He has attained distinction in a field 
where sound erudition, mature judgment, strict integrity and talents of a 
high order are required, and his career amply justifies the respect and con- 
fidence in which he is held by the medical profession and the general public. 
He is a member of the American Medical Association and ex-president of 
the Florida State and the Southern States Medical Societies. He is, in addi- 
tion, a member and ex-president of the Dade County Medical Association 
and surgeon in charge of the Florida East Coast Railway Extension Hos- 
pital. 

Dr. Jackson married, October 3, 1894, Ethel Barco, of Bronson, 
Florida, and they have two daughters : Ethel Barco, who is the wife of Dr. 
Thomas Woodward Hutson, of Aiken, South Carolina, and Mary Helen. 
The family has long been prominent in social circles of Miami. Fraternally 
Dr. Jackson is a Knight Templar Mason and was Worshipful Master of the 
first Masonic lodge in Miami. He is also affiliated with the Knights of 
Pythias and the Elks, and is a member of the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club. 

Dr. Jackson is chairman of the board of directors of the Bank of Bay 
Biscayne, the oldest bank in Dade County and one of the recognized finan- 
cial institutions of South Florida. In addition to his long and eminent 
career in one of the most exacting professions he also has been an honorable 
member of the body politic. As a citizen he easily ranks with the most in- 
fluential of his compeers in affairs looking toward the material and moral 
advancement of the community. 

E. V. BLACKMAN 

(Charles S. Emerson, in Farm and Live Stock Record) 

Few men have had a wider or more varied experience with the devel- 
opment of Florida than E. V. Blackman, of Miami, writer, horticulturist, 
agriculturist and enthusiast. Mr. Blackman was born at North Pitcher, 
New York, June 18, 1845. His father was J. S. Blackman, a merchant. As 
a boy he lived at home, attended the public school and assisted in the store 
as much as possible. Three months each year he attended the select school, 
walking three miles to reach it. Later he attended Cortland Academy with 
the expectation of going through college, but the Civil War broke out and 
he joined the Twentieth New York Cavalry in 1862, at the age of 17, serv- 
ing until the close of the war with honor to himself and his country. He 
served two years as a second lieutenant but never accepted the commission 
on account of a pact he made with three other young men from his home 
town to sei-ve as privates throughout the war. After the war he went to 
Kirksville, Missouri, on account of his health, returning later to New York 

96 



state. In 1885 he came to Florida, locating at Altoona, in Lake County, 
where he joined the Methodist conference and preached several years until 
his health failed. In the eighties and early nineties he was preaching and 
growing oranges in the old orange belt over in Lake County, and the cele- 
brated freeze of ninety-five drove him out of that region farther south, and 
when Miami was discovered in the closing days of the last century he fol- 
lowed the course of the railroad into that sub-tropical section and grew up 
with the country. He was a man grown in those days, but he has grown 
and expanded even as Dade County and Miami have grown and expanded, 
and his 75 years set as lightly upon him as the 30 years of many a younger 
man. Activity is the middle name of this sturdy pioneer, who has been the 
manager of 23 annual county fairs in Miami and is now preparing to 
eclipse all others with the twenty-fourth. 

In the early years of his new environment Mi\ Blackman was the 
editor of the Florida East Coast Homeseeker, published by the land depart- 
ment of the Flagler System, and through that medium he talked to the 
world about the beauties, the possibilities and the realities of Miami and 
Dade County and the whole east coast, while he was developing an orange 
and grapefruit grove and making little investments in Miami real estate 
that have grown into valuable properties to make life easy for him in de- 
clining years — whenever they come. For many years he has had charge of 
the Miami bureau of the Florida Times-Union, and in all that time he has 
written the news and the developments and predicted many things that his 
neighbors laughed about and said could never come true, but he has lived 
to laugh at them and see every prediction and prophecy come true and 
then some. 

Today Mr. Blackman and his charming wife live in a handsome Belvi- 
dere home in Riverside Heights in Miami during a good part of the year 
and in the summer they rest at their beautiful mountain home at Cloudland, 
Georgia, within sight of the famous Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, 
Tennessee. Here the active journalist and ruralist recuperates from his 
active work for Miami and Florida each year and returns in the fall with 
renewed vigor, anxious for the fray and as brave as a youngster just break- 
ing into the game. 

It has been my pleasure to know this heroic figure for more than 15 
years, and latterly to know him very intimately as we have been associated 
in the making of this magazine during the past two years. Ten days ago 
I was entertained in his home in Miami, and I found him in his garden, 
where he spends an hour every day, close to nature which he loves. He says 
his work among his plants and trees gives him inspiration and keeps him 
young. I asked for a photograph of himself and he gave it reluctantly. 
When I asked him what I should say about him he replied. "Anything you 
like. I am glad I am living and I was never happier than now. I have 
lived to see a lot of things done that I advocated, and my only regret is that 

97 



I cannot live long enough to see this whole state the gai'den that it deserves 
to be." 

It is worth something to know such a man. Florida owes him much 
and Miami owes him more than it can ever repay. During all the years he 
has been fighting for it's development he has been an active member of its 
board of trade and chamber of commerce, and has been chairman of the 
committee on agriculture for years. He had charge of the exhibits of Dade 
County at the Florida State Fair the past two years, and to his long experi- 
ence and excellent taste is due the wonderful success of these exhibits, 
which attracted unusual attention at each fair. 

The readers of the Farm and Live Stock Record are familiar with the 
writings of Mr. Blackman and when they see his picture they will feel they 
know him better. I wish everybody who reads this knew him as well as I 
do, for they would enjoy his personality and his friendship. 

S]MILEY M. TATU]\I 

rt is the progressive, wide-awake man of affairs who makes the real 
history of a community, and his influence as a potential factor of the body 
politic is diflicult to estimate. A man whose genius in administration, con- 
structive business ability and power of organizing and co-ordinating has 
touched and affected practically every line of legitimate activity in Miami 
and Dade County is Smiley M. Tatum, one of the most conspicuously suc- 
cessful men in this section of Florida. As one of the principals of Tatum 
Brothers Company and their various subsidiary corporations Mr. Tatum's 
initiative spirit and forceful ability has left and is still leaving an impress 
upon the history of the city and county. 

Smiley M. Tatum is a native of Cummings, Georgia, born February 22, 
1870, and is a son of Rev. Aaron S. and Jane Elizabeth (Johnson) Tatum, 
the former a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, and the latter born at 
Greenville, South Carolina. The father was a Baptist minister who re- 
moved to Georgia and later to Florida, passing away at Orlando, Florida, 
in 1915. The mother died at Orlando in 1907. Smiley M. Tatum ac- 
quired his preliminary education in the public schools at Adairsville, 
Georgia. His collegiate training was acquired at the State University at 
Athens, Georgia, where he completed a course in chemistry. Leaving school 
he located in Bartow, Florida, and was engaged as an analjlical chemist 
until forced to abandon his profession on account of his eyesight becoming 
affected by strong acid fumes. He then went into the real estate business, 
residing at Bartow and Tampa for a period of 22 years, or until his re- 
moval to Miami in 1902. In the latter year, he joined his brother, J. H. 
Tatum, in Miami, and here they formed the nucleus of the present ex- 
tensive operations of the Tatum Brothers, being joined later by B. B. 
Tatum and J. R. Tatum. The business was first conducted under the style 
of the Tatum Brothers Real Estate & Investment Company. Now their 

98 



large and important interests are represented by separate corporations. 
These include the Tatum Brothers Company, Lawrence Estate Land Com- 
pany, Miami Traction Company, Tatum Ocean Park Company, Tatum Land 
Company, Miami Land and Development Company, Florida Title Company 
and the Miami Abstract Company. The Tatum Brothers Company is the 
sales company of the various organizations. The Tatum Land Company 
controls two hundred thousand acres of land in the Everglades, and the 
Tatum brothers have been among the foremost developers of the Ever- 
glades section of Florida. Tatum Ocean Park Company owns five miles of 
ocean front property near Miami. They have also developed many of the 
higher class subdivision properties of the city, including Riverside Heights, 
Riverside and beautiful Grove Park. 

S. M. Tatum is an officer in all of the above corporations and an influ- 
ential factor in their promotion and expansion. He is in addition identified 
with other important business and corporate interests. He is vice-presi- 
dent of the Belcher Asphalt Paving Company, Incorporated, director of the 
Seminole Fruit and Land Company, and vice-president of the Ait Stone 
Construction Company, in which he holds the controlling stock. 

Mr. Tatum married, March 11, 1900, Florie J. Blount, of Bartow, 
Florida, and they have two children: Bebie J., who is a student at the 
Georgia Military Institute, Atlanta, Georgia, and Mayme Lillian. Frater- 
nally he is a member of the Elks and the Knights of Pythias. His clubs 
include the Rotary Club, of which he has the distinction of being the only 
real estate broker who is a member; the Miami Country Club, the Miami 
Motor Club and the Anglers' Club. He is also an active member of the 
Miami Chamber of Commerce and the Miami Realty Board. The name of 
Tatum has come to be regarded in Miami as synonymous with business de- 
velopment, with public advancement and with everything pertaining to 
community growth and progress and Mr. Tatum has been an influential 
factor in this connection. A man of great constructive ability, prolific en- 
terprise and indomitable energy, he has been one of the greatest individ- 
ual forces in the rejuvenation of the south. 

SAMUEL A. BELCHER 

Samuel A. Belcher, president of the Belcher Asphalt Paving Company, 
Incorporated, vice-president of the Bank of Bay Biscayne, and a factor in 
many other representative business or corporate interests, is numbered 
among Miami's pioneer citizens, and since the early days of the city's foun- 
dation has been a force in its upbuilding, his activities touching and influ- 
encing many important channels of development. Mr. Belcher was born 
in Randolph County, Georgia, near Cuthbert, January 2, 1860, and is a son 
of Elijah Belcher, who was a soldier in the Confederate Army during the 
Civil War and who died shortly after peace was declared. His wife, who 
was Emeline Bruner, passed away in 1876. 

99 



Left an orphan at 16, Samuel A. Belcher began at that early age to 
seek his own livelihood and for several years worked as a farm hand. When 
he was 22 years of age, in 1882, he came to Florida and has since that time 
been a resident of this state. He spent ten years on the Indian River at 
Cocoa and Titusville and then in 1892 came to Dade County, one of the ear- 
liest settlers in this locality. He located a homestead one mile and a half 
from the present town site, making his home upon it five years before the 
railroad was completed to Miami. This property he afterward divided into 
a number of smaller farms, which he sold, the entire tract of 160 acres 
bringing him $25,000. Since that time Mr. Belcher has been one of the 
leading factors in the growth of Miami and the development of Dade 
County. He is one of the largest holders of improved real estate in the 
city. He also controls large citrus groves near Miami and owns in the 
vicinity of Pompano one of the finest truck farms in Dade County. Mr. 
Belcher is one of the most able and successful business men of the com- 
munity and is connected through investment with many important business 
enterprises. He is president of the Belcher Asphalt Paving Company, 
which was incorporated in 1915, vice-president of the Bank of Bay Bis- 
cayne and president of the Art Stone Construction Company. All of his 
business interests are carefully and conservatively conducted, as he is a 
far-sighted and resourceful business man, a student of modern business 
conditions and successful because he is discriminating, energetic and deter- 
mined. 

Mr. Belcher has been a force in public affairs since the foundation of 
Miami and some of the most important public enterprises in Dade County 
owe their inception to his initiative and organizing ability. He was among 
the first to conceive the idea of building the great causeway to Miami Beach 
and the success of the project was in a large measure due to his influence 
and ability. As chairman of the board of county commissioners at that 
time his influence may be said to have been the detennining factor in secur- 
ing the county to vote the bond issue for its construction. He was for 12 
years a member of the board of county commissioners and four years its 
chairman, serving ably, conscientiously and with constant consideration for 
the best interests of the community. Mr. Belcher is a pioneer in the good 
roads movement in Dade County and was the first to advocate the preser- 
vation of the roads by the process of oiling. He is the originator of the 
Belcher system of road oiling, now widely recognized as the best method 
of road preservation, and is entitled to much credit in educating the public 
to modern methods in saving the roads. He demonstrated the practicability 
of the Belcher system by oiling four miles of road at Miami Beach eight 
years ago and this road stands today as one of the best roadbeds in the 
county. The Belcher system provides for oiling the roads with three appli- 
cations of oil covering a period of one year. 

Mr. Belcher married, in 1886, Jeannette King, a native of Georgia and 
a daughter of Captain Robert N. King, who for several terms was a mem- 

100 



ber of the Georgia house of representatives and the Georgia state senate. 
He served as a captain in the army of the Confederacy during the Civil 
War. Ml-, and Mrs. Belcher have three childi-en : Harold L., Edwin N., and 
Samuel A., Jr. A man of initiative and enterprise, modern in his views and 
forceful in his individuality, he has for many years been an active worker 
for public progress along political, material and moral lines, and his labors 
and influence has been one of the greatest individual forces in the growth 
of Miami and Dade County. 

J. I. WILSON 

Jacob I. Wilson, president of the Dade County Security Company, 
and one of the most progressive, able and resourceful business men of 
Miami, is a native of Ohio, born in Dark County, May 2, 1859. He is a son 
of Jacob and Nancy (Bartmess) Wilson, natives of Maryland, where they 
were reared and married. They afterward removed to Ohio and thence to 
Indiana, the father engaging in farming and merchandising during his ac- 
tive life. Both have passed away. 

When Jacob I. Wilson was still a child his parents removed to Jas- 
per County, Indiana, and there his boyhood was spent upon a faiTn. At the 
age of 18 he began his independent career, going to California whence, 
after one year, he traveled eastward to Huron, South Dakota, where he 
spent several years engaged as a clerk in a hotel. In 1884 he came south to 
Florida and, locating in Polk County, planted and developed a fine orange 
grove of about 1,500 trees. The enterprise proved very profitable and Mr. 
Wilson picked fine crops annually after his trees began to bear until the 
great freeze of 1895 entirely destroyed his groves and left him practically 
penniless. He faced the difticult situation with confidence and courage and, 
starting again at the bottom of the ladder, has since climbed steadily up- 
ward to success. He came to Miami in 1898 and has since made his home 
in this city, having witnessed almost its entire growth and development and 
having borne in it an honorable and useful share. For seven years he con- 
ducted a profitable grocery business and later was engaged in the real estate 
business, in which line he handled a great deal of valuable property. Be- 
ing an expert judge of land values, his transactions proved profitable not 
only to himself but to his clients also. He was also connected with im- 
portant business interests as senior member of the firm of Wilson & Berce- 
geay, large wholesale shippers of fish, operating in Miami. For several 
years he has been president of the Dade County Security Company, a build- 
ing and loan company, and one of the strongest institutions of its kind in 
the state of Florida. He has directed the affairs of this institution in an 
able and far-sighted manner and much of its success is the natural result 
of his well-directed work. 

On the 28th of February, 1888, Mr. Wilson married Tena Kettelson, of 
Arlington, South Carolina, and they have two sons: Benjamin E. and D. 
Earl. For ten years Mr. Wilson served as a member of the Miami city 

101 



council, during six years of which time he acted as president, proving cap- 
able, conscientious and efficient in the discharge of his duties. He is at all 
times interested in the growth and welfare of the city and during the years 
of his residence here has done all in his power to promote its advancement, 
adhering always to high standards of business and political righteousness 
and making his name a synonym for progress, reform and growth along 
many lines of civic development. 

B. B. TATUM 

The history of a community has not to do so much with its machinery 
of government or even the men who hold its public offices as it has to do 
with those citizens of enterprise and progressiveness who recognize and 
utilize opportunities for the establishment of important and extensive 
industrial and commercial connections. B. B. Tatum has had much to do 
with the upbuilding and improvement of south Florida, his activities af- 
fecting many vital phases of community development and influencing es- 
pecially the improvement and adornment of Miami in its transformation 
from a small town to a thriving and prosperous city. He belongs to that 
striking group of far-sighted men who called to the attention of the world 
the vast resources of the southland and the great opportunities here offered 
for development. Through his extensive operations he has not only 
achieved a large individual success, but has added to the city's develop- 
ment, improvement and prosperity. As one of the principals of Tatum 
Brothers Company and their subsidiary corporations he has inaugurated 
and promoted to successful conclusion some of the largest and most import- 
ant real estate development woi'k of the state, and he is recognized today as 
one of the most distinctively representative business men of the south. 

B. B. Tatum is a native of Dawson County, Georgia, born March 1, 
1864. He is a son of Rev. A. S. and Jane E. (Johnson) Tatum, the former 
a native of the state of North Carolina and the latter born in South Caro- 
lina. The father was a Baptist clergyman well known throughout Georgia, 
who died at Orlando, Florida, in 1915. Mr. Tatum spent his boyhood in 
Adairsville, Georgia, where he acquired a public school education. At the 
age of 17 he came to Florida, and after a short stay in Orlando, located at 
Kissimmee, where he worked as a mill hand. Removing to Bartow, he be- 
came associated with his brother in the ownership of a saw mill. In 1887 
he turned his attention to journalism and became the proprietor of the Polk 
County (Florida) Informant. Disposing of this a few months later he es- 
tablished the Advance-Courier, which he published for one year and then re- 
purchased the Informant and consolidated the two papers under the name 
of Courier-Informant. In 1889 he sold this property and became the owner 
and editor of the Daily and Weekly Herald, at Rome, Georgia. He subse- 
quently disposed of this journal and, returning to Bartow, engaged in the 
real estate business for four years. At this time a stock company was 
formed to take the ownership of the Courier-Informayit, and Mr. Tatum 

102 



edited the paper until the close of 1899, when he purchased the Miami Me- 
tropolis, which he conducted until his disposal of the property several years 
later. As editor of the Metropolis he was a great force in molding public 
opinion and thought. He served as president of the Florida State Press As- 
sociation and was otherwise active and influential among the craft. 

Leaving the editorial chair, he became identified with important real 
estate interests in association with his brothers, and has since devoted his 
attention exclusively to these activities. The extensive interests of the Ta- 
tum brothers are represented by several distinct and separate corporations 
■ and include the Tatum Brothers Company, Lawrence Estate Land Com- 
pany, Miami Traction Company, Tatum's Ocean Park Company, Tatum 
Land Company, Miami Land and Development Company, Florida Title 
Company, Miami Abstract Company and the Tatum Brothers Real Estate 
and Investment Company. The Tatum Brothers Company is the sales or- 
ganization, while the Tatum Land Company controls 200,000 acres of land 
in the Everglades. The Tatum Brothers have been among the most promi- 
nent developers of the Everglades and their exploitation of this favored 
section of Florida has benefited the entire program of development. They 
have also developed many of the high-class subdivision properties of Miami, 
notably Riverside Heights, Riverside and Grove Park. The firm is one of 
known reliability and has been identified with many of the important trans- 
actions of the local field. B. B. Tatum is an officer in all of the corporations 
mentioned and much of their success is directly due to his power of initia- 
tive, his sound practical judgment and his talent for organization. 

Mr. Tatum is quite active in all affairs that have for their object the 
advancement of civic interests. His name is interwoven with Miami's 
greatness and prosperity and is impressed in equally indelible manner 
upon those influences which are factors for the betterment of the indi- 
vidual and the community at large. 

ja:mes h. gilmax 

James H. Oilman, president of the Bank of Bay Biscayne, and, by 
virtue of his position and by the force of inherent ability, an influential 
factor in the financial and economic life of south Florida, is a native of 
New Hartford, Connecticut, born June 26, 1885. He is a son of Henry 
P. and Katherine (Crowe) Gilman, both of whom also are natives of New 
Hartford, where they continue to reside. Mr. Gilman was reared in his 
native city and there received a high school education. He worked as a 
clerk in the cotton mills of New Hartford for a year and for a like period 
was engaged as a clerk in the postoflice of that city. He came to Miami in 
October, 1902, and became exchange clerk in the Bank of Bay Biscayne, 
and has since been continuously identified with this institution, which is 
the oldest bank in Dade County. He succeeded to the presidency of the 
bank in December, 1918, and has been a vital factor in promoting and 
expanding the commercial interests of this popular financial institution, 

103 



his ability being of that broad kind that readily finds recognition in such 
movements as are undertaken for betterment and advancement. 

Mr. Oilman married April 11, 1916, Gladys Moore, of Brookline, Mass- 
achusetts, and they have one son, James H. Oilman, Jr. Fraternally, Mr. 
Oilman is a Mason and a member of the Shrine. He is one of the seven 
trustees of the Miami City Hospital. Pre-eminently a business man of the 
modern type — resourceful and far-sighted — he is also a citizen whose 
ideals of life are high and whose activities have been an element in uphold- 
ing the social and moral status of the city and in furthering its develop- 
ment. 

JOHN CARRINGTOX GRAMLING 

John Carrington Oramling, state's attorney of the eleventh Florida ju- 
dicial circuit, is today recognized as one of the leaders in professional, so- 
cial and political life, whose accomplished work is destined to become a part 
of legal and judicial history. Since beginning his independent career in 
Miami his popularity and the force of his personality have been such that 
he has been kept almost continuously in public office, where his labors have 
been efficient, progressive and constructive, influencing many phases of 
municipal development. He is a man of comprehensive general knowledge, 
of incisive and analytical powers of mind; a successful and able lawyer, 
aggressive, keen and fearless in the perfoiTnance of duty, who holds the 
public confidence by reason of his superior professional attainments and 
his close adherence to the highest standards of professional ethics. 

Mr. Oramling was born in Oreenville, Alabama, June 6, 1878, a son 
of Adam Clark and Sallie Taylor (Stanley) Oramling, and is on both sides 
a representative of old southern families. The Oramling family was 
founded in Virginia in pre-revolutionary times and its representatives be- 
came prominent in the public and business life of the colony. The Stanleys 
also were among the oldest English families in Virginia and were active in 
many phases of colonial life. Samuel Stanley, the maternal great grand- 
father of the subject of this review, married a daughter of a representative 
of one of the most prominent of the old Virginia families who was one of 
the founders of Richmond. Mr. Oramling's maternal grandmother was 
Emma Courtois Stone, from a prominent French family. Adam Clai'k 
Oramling, father of the subject, moved from Virginia to South Carolina in 
his early years and from that state enlisted in the Confederate army. After 
the Civil War he removed to Alabama, settling in Oreenville, where he 
became prominent as a general merchant. Following his death his widow 
came to Miami and made her home with her son until she died, Februaiy 5, 
1910. 

John C. Oramling acquired his early education in the public schools of 
Oreenville, and at the age of 20 entered Massey's Business College in Co- 
lumbus, Oeorgia, where he completed the full commercial course. Having 
determined to make law his life profession, he entered the Nashville Col- 

104 



lege of Law in Nashville, Tennessee, and later studied in the John B. Stet- 
son University, at De Land, from which he was graduated with distinction 
in 1906, receiving the degree of LL. B. He had, however, previous to this 
time, passed his examinations for the bar and was admitted to practice in 
1904. In 1898 he removed to Dade County. He established a home in 
Little River, but after one year came to Miami, where he has since resided. 
Before beginning the active practice of his profession he was elected justice 
of the peace of the Miami district and has since been more or less in the 
public eye. After his graduation from the John B. Stetson University he 
at once opened an office in Miami and from that time to this has been con- 
tinuously in practice here. October 1, 1912, he became a member of the 
firm of Atkinson, Gramling & Burdine, which continued until 1914. His 
present professional association as senior member of the fimi of Gramling 
& Clarkson dates from 1915. Fine judgment and incorruptible integrity 
have brought him prominence and carried him forward into important re- 
lations with public affairs. After only one year of practice he was elected 
municipal judge of the city of Miami and in 1908 was made judge of the 
county court. In recognition of his legal and political ability Mr. Gramling 
was on June 10, 1911, honored with the appointment to the position of 
state's attorney of the eleventh Florida judicial circuit, an office in which 
he is still serving with conspicuous ability, having been nominated since in 
two primaries and given the appointments. 

Aside from his profession Mr. Gramling is also active in the public and 
business life of Miami and in these connections is doing splendid work for 
the city, his public-spirit being of the vital, active and intelligent kind and 
his support always willingly given to progressive movements and projects. 
He was one of the prime movers in organizing the Dade County Hospital 
Association, which gave to the city of Miami a modern hospital. He was 
also active in the development of the Ocean Beach Realty Co., and was one 
of the organizers of the Moose Haven Sugar Corporation. He is deeply 
interested in everything that tends to build up the city and community. 

In November, 1908, Mr. Gramling married Clara Helen St. Clair- 
Abrams, of Jacksonville, Florida, and they have three children : John Car- 
rington, Jr., born August 27, 1909; Claire Helen, born June 24, 1912, and 
Madlaine Courtois Gramling, born October 2, 1919. 

In politics Mr. Gramling has always been a staunch democrat and his 
religious views are in accord with the doctrines of the Methodist church. 
He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and also belongs to the Knights 
of Pythias, having served the latter organization as past chancellor com- 
mander. A man of varied interests, each of which he makes separately ef- 
fective, of commanding professional, business and political ability, high in 
his standards, firm in his convictions and modern in his views, he stands 
as a fine type of American citizenship. 

105 



E. B. DOUGLAS 

(By E. V. Blackman) 

It happened that the writer was in Jacksonville sometime during the 
early part of 1898 on a business trip. I saw some articles in the show win- 
dow of the Cohen-Freidman store that I wished to bring home with nie and 
I stepped inside the store to make the small purchases. While there, Mr. 
Cohen, one of the proprietors of the store, came along. When he found 
out that I was from Miami, he asked me to step into his office, as he wished 
to talk with me. When my purchases were madel dropped into Mr. Cohen's 
office and he began to ask a series of questions about Miami and the busi- 
ness prospects here. I told him about the hopes we all had for Miami's fu- 
ture greatness, and the more I talked the greater was Mr. Cohen's interest. 
Finally, he called a boy and said, "Tell Mr. Douglas to come here." Mr. 
Douglas soon appeared on the scene and Mr. Cohen said, "Mr. Douglas, how 
would you like to go to Miami and manage a store for us there?" Mr. Doug- 
las replied that he would like nothing better, saying he had read a great 
deal about Miami and would certainly like to go there. Then Mr. Cohen 
turned to me and asked me when I was going back to Miami. I told him 
I was going on the evening train. "Wait until tomorrow and I will go with 
you," he said. I agreed to wait and the next evening we left for Miami. On 
arriving here I introduced Mr. Cohen to the business men and gave him an 
opportunity to make an investigation of the business outlook. He made up 
his mind to come to Miami. However, there was not a vacant store room in 
the city. I introduced him to the Townley brothers, who owned a lot on 
Twelfth street, next to the grocery of J. E. Lummus, and explained to them 
that Mr. Cohen desired to come to Miami but could not find a store room. 
The Townley brothers agreed to build a store room on their lot, the time 
was set when it would be ready, the rent agreed upon and Mr. Cohen left 
for Jacksonville. A large stock of goods was shipped and Mr. Douglas was 
to come here as manager of the store. After Mr. Douglas had arranged to 
come to Miami he went to St. Augustine, married his intended, Miss Peddy, 
and took the train for their new home in Miami. The morning after their 
arrival they went to their room to lay plans for their future. While there 
Mr. Douglas suggested that they see just how much cash they had on hand. 
Straightway both pocket books were emptied on the bed and they found 
that they had just a little over $15 as the sum total of their earthly posses- 
sions. This was a rather small amount of money for strangers in a strange 
land, as they knew no one here but the writer. However, Mr. and Mrs. 
Douglas did not remain strangers but a short time. The shipment of goods 
arrived in due time and the stock prepared for the opening day. From the 
day the store opened Mr. and Mrs. Douglas became popular with all classes. 

About a year later the store was burned, and Mr. Cohen came down 
from Jacksonville. There was no other store room available and Mr. Cohen 

106 



concluded to ship the damaged stock back to Jacksonville. When the goods 
were ready for shipment, Mr. Cohen said to Mr. Douglas, "You and Mrs. 
Douglas come to Jacksonville, your old place is waiting your coming." Mr. 
Cohen was greatly surprised when Mr. Douglas replied: "Mrs. Douglas 
and I have concluded to make Miami our permanent home ; I thank you for 
your kind offer, but we will remain here." Mr. Douglas leased a small store 
room in the Biscayne Hotel building and put in a stock of women's wear and 
millinery. It was a small beginning but Mr. and Mrs. Douglas gave the 
business their undivided attention and as rapidly as new people came here 
from the north their friends increased and the Douglas store grew and ex- 
panded as the community grew and expanded. His success has been almost 
phenomenal. The little store was soon outgrown, and subsequently removed 
to the present quarters, gradually absorbing other business interests until 
today it is the largest department store in the city. Mr. Douglas is a direc- 
tor in the Bank of Bay Biscayne, president of the local Red Cross, leader of 
the Boy Scouts and prominent in the benevolent work connected with the 
Young Women's Christian Association. Wherever sound judgment, energy 
and tact is required Mr. Douglas is chosen for work, and he is always a 
willing worker for all good causes. 

CHARLES DOYLE LEFFLER 

Charles Doyle Leffler, president of the Miami Bank and Trust Com- 
pany and resident agent of the Gulf Refining Company, has been identified 
with important business interests of Miami for over 20 years, and his ini- 
tiative spirit, modern business standards and progressive ideas have been 
potent in advancing the general development. Mr. Leffler is a native of 
Smithland, Kentucky, born August 12, 1868. He is a son of Charles Henry 
Leffler, who served as a non-commissioned officer in the Confederate Army 
during the Civil War, and who immediately after the close of the war mar- 
ried Mary Frances Bibb, of Montgomery, Alabama. They came to Florida 
in 1877 and settled in Mellonville, a town not now in existence, but which 
formerly stood near the present site of Sanford. On March 17, of the 
same year, they settled in Sanford, which was just then coming into 
existence. There the father engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1903 
when he retired, living now at Sanford, Florida. His wife died in Sanford 
in 1902. 

Charles Doyle Leffler spent his childhood in Sanford and was prepared 
for college at Horner's School at Oxford, North Carolina. In 1885 he en- 
tered the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee, and there pur- 
sued his studies until he had reached his junior year. He afterward com- 
pleted a course in Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, 
graduating in 1888, and immediately afterward returned to Sanford, where 
he secured employment as office boy for the South Florida Railroad Com- 
pany. He remained in the employ of that corporation and in that of the 
Plant Steamship Line until 1892, winning promotion after promotion and 

107 



resigning in that year as auditor of freight receipts. Having determined 
to engage in business for himself he established a retail grocery in Sanford 
and was successful in its conduct for a few years. However, the great 
freeze of 1895 paralyzed business conditions in that section and left the 
people of the city practically penniless. Mr. Leffler gave up his business 
and engaged in various occupations until 1898. For several years previous 
to this time he had been a member of Company D, Florida National Guard, 
and was its captain when war with Spain was declared. His company was 
merged with Company C of Orlando and the regiment was sent to Tampa, 
where, however it remained until the close of hostilities, Mr. Leffler seeing 
no active service. After receiving his honorable discharge he came to 
Miami in 1899 and here rented a store for the purpose of opening a retail 
grocery. He returned to Sanford in order to arrange his business affairs 
there preparatory to moving and while he was still thus engaged the yellow 
fever broke out in Miami and he decided to delay his change of residence 
until the epidemic was stamped out. Early in 1900 he again came to Miami 
and on February 1 opened a grocery store, which he conducted with success 
until March, 1910, when he sold his interests to the Miami Grocery Com- 
pany. Meanwhile, as early as 1908, he began acting as agent for the Gulf 
Refining Company and under his able management the business grew so 
rapidly that it was soon evident to Mr. Leffler that he would have to sever 
his connection with one or the other of his enterprises. Having disposed of 
his grocery, he turned all of his attention to the affairs of the Gulf Refining 
Company and has so surely established their business in Miami that the 
concern supplies a large portion of the oil consumed in the city. In 1917 
Mr. Leffler became president of the Miami Bank and Trust Company, one 
of the solid financial institutions of Miami, in the direction of which enter- 
prise he has shown organizing and executive ability of a high order. 

Mr. Leffler married February 12, 1891, Hannah May Martin, and they 
are the parents of two children: Cornelia, a graduate of the Florida 
Women's College of Tallahassee, and Charles D. Leffler, Jr., graduate U. S. 
Naval Academy, class of 1918, Annapolis, Md., and now lieutenant in the 
Navy on S. S. Pittsburgh, in European waters. 

Mr. Leffler has always been a staunch democrat and active and promi- 
nent in public affairs. In 1901 he was made a member of the Dade County 
democratic central committee and in 1904 was elected to the Miami board 
of public works, serving ably and conscientiously for two years. At pres- 
ent he is chairman of the democratic executive county committee and treas- 
urer of the board of bond trustees of Dade County. He is a progressive and 
public-spirited citizen, eager to advance the best interest of the community 
and active in the promotion of the general welfare. A man of marked in- 
dividuality, of modern views and unsual ability, he has in citizenship, in 
private life and in business affairs won the respect and confidence of all. 

108 



JA3IES E. LUMMUS 

James E. Lummus, president of the Southern Bank and Trust Com- 
pany, is, through the force of his great ability and business discrimination, 
a prominent figure in financial circles of Miami, where he is honored also 
as one of the pioneer builders of the city. He came to Miami in the pioneer 
epoch and throughout the years has been closely allied with its interests. 
Those at all familiar with community history recognize the large and im- 
portant part he has had in the phenomenal development of this favored lo- 
cality. He was the second mayor of the city and the second man to erect 
a business house in the community. As one of the pioneer merchants of 
Miami and many years a prominent and influential banker, his career has 
been one of large usefulness and the record of his work finds a notable place 
in the generic history of the city and county. 

Mr. Lummus is a native of Bronson, Florida, born December 23, 1867, 
and he is a son of Ezekiel S. and Frances J. (Epperson) Lummus, natives of 
Georgia, where their marriage occurred at the time of the close of the 
Civil War. In 1867 the parents removed to Florida, locating in Levy 
County, near Bronson. The father was a veteran of the Civil War, having 
served through that conflict in the Confederate army. James E. Lummus 
was reared in Levy County, remaining upon his father's farm until he was 
17 years of age. At that time he went to Bronson and turned his attention 
to business pursuits, becoming a clerk in a store there and remaining in 
that capacity for three years. At the end of that period he entered East- 
man's Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York, from which he was 
graduated in 1888. Returning to Bronson, he resumed his position as clerk 
and continued in it until 1890, when he went to Fort Fannin, where for 
one year he conducted a mercantile store of his own. He then again went 
to Bronson and formed a partnership with his uncle, J. W. Epperson, in the 
general merchandise business, the concern being conducted under the name 
of Epperson, Lummus & Colson. This association continued until 1896, 
when Mr. Lummus sold his interest in the firm to his uncle and in February 
of that year came to Miami, which was at that time just springing into ex- 
istence. The railroad was built into the town in the following April, but at 
the time Mr. Lummus took up his residence here very few had preceded 
him to the townsite and he was the second man to erect a business house in 
the community. As soon as his building was completed he established him- 
self in the mercantile business here and until 1908 conducted one of the 
important stores of the city. When he severed his connection with mer- 
chandising Mr. Lummus turned his attention to banking, becoming vice- 
president of the Bank of Bay Biscayne and succeeding to the presidency of 
that institution the following year. He continued as president of the Bank 
of Bay Biscayne until December, 1918, when he severed his connection with 
that bank and became president of the Southern Bank and Trust Company, 
with the active management of which institution he is now identified. The 

109 



Southern Bank and Trust Company is one of the strongest and best known 
financial institutions in Miami. As its head Mr. Lummus has largely di- 
rected its policies and controlled its growth and much of its success is due 
to his organizing and executive ability. When Mr. Lummus assumed the 
presidency of the bank their deposits totaled only about one-half million 
dollars. Their latest statement shows deposits of one million seven hundred 
eighty-five thousand four hundred thirty-two dollars and fourteen cents. 

He is numbered among the city's leading financiers and is a stock- 
holder and director in various other important business concerns. A man 
of rare soundness of judgment, wise discretion and business ability of a 
high order, he has managed with tactful success important enterprises and 
gained wide recognition as a substantial man of afi'airs. In addition to an 
active business career, Mr. Lummus has also been prominent in public af- 
fairs. He was the second mayor of the city and served three years, giving 
to the municipality an able, constructive and business-like administration. 

In Arcadia, Louisiana, in 1893, Mr. Lummus married Georgie Brown, 
and they have one daughter, Georgie Elizabeth. He is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South. During his long residence in Miami 
he has been one of the leaders in all projects for advancing the city's in- 
terests and he is numbered among those men of character and substance 
whose accomplished work has contributed largely to public stability. 

JOHN WILLIAM CLAUSSEN 

Miami has been quickened into new life through the efforts and ability 
of many ambitious and public-spii'ited men, attracted here from other and 
various fields, whose citizenship has given an added prestige to the body 
politic and whose labors have been an important factor in contributing to 
the general development. John W. Claussen, prominent insurance agent 
and leader in civic afi'airs, was attracted to Florida in 1914, and after visit- 
ing every city in the state selected Miami as the city of opportunity. Here 
his fine abilities were quickly recognized and he readily became a forceful 
element in the community. 

Mr. Claussen is a native of Clinton, Iowa, born April 6. 1877, and is a 
son of Dierk and Christena (Laumback) Claussen, natives of Denmark. He 
acquired a public school and business college education, and in 1898 
became a utility clerk in the First National Bank of Clinton, Iowa, where 
he served until 1900, when he became identified with the important Joyce 
Interests at Chicago, large owners of timber lands, lumber manufacturers 
and dealers, with yards and oflices in various parts of the United States. 
Mr. Claussen was confidential secretary to Mr. Joyce, as well as an oflficer 
in the various corporations under Mr. Joyce's control. Ill health forced 
the severance of these connections, and in October, 1914, he came to Florida 
to regain his health. Here in Miami he established himself in business as a 
general insurance agent, and by the force of high ability and constructive 

110 




^^^^_^ 



(I 



policies soon developed a business of large and gratifying proportions. He 
is widely recognized as an expert insurance adviser, and since entering the 
ranks of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States in 1915 
has insured nearly 200 persons for over a million and a half of insurance. 
The high character of his business reflects his own high ideals and is in 
keeping with his standing in the community. 

Since his residence here Mr. Claussen has taken an active and com- 
mendable pai't in every movement having for its object the upbuilding of 
Miami. He was a member of the city council during- the years 1918 and 
1919, president of that body during 1919 and building commissioner during 
the years 1918 and 1919. During the great war he was especially active in 
all of the homework pertaining to the war, serving as a member of the 
executive committee as well as city sales manager on both the fourth and 
fifth war loan drives. He is a director of the First National Bank, a direc- 
tor and member of the executive committee of the First National Company, 
a director of the Miami Chamber of Commerce and a director of the Miami 
Y. M. C. A. He is also president of the Claussen Investment Company, a 
concern of recognized standing, with a capital stock of $200,000, dealing in 
moi'tgages, securities and investments. Mr. Claussen is vice-president and 
director of the Rotary Club and vice-president and director of the Miami 
Golf Club. His other club and association memberships include: Rotary 
Club of Miami, Miami Anglers' Club, Miami Shrine Club, Bimini Bay Rod 
and Gun Club, Miami Motor Club, Miami Beach Club, Miami Chamber of 
Commerce, National Association of Life Underwriters, Florida Fire Li- 
surance Underwriters, and Miami Y. M. C. A. He is a member and Senior 
Warden of the Trinity Episcopal Church of Miami, and his lodge affiliations 
are with Kilwinning Lodge No. 311, A. F. and A. M., Chicago; Oriental 
Consistory, S. P. R. S. (32 degree), Chicago; Medinah Temple (Shriner), 
Chicago; Miami Florida Lodge, No. 948, B. P. 0. E. 

Mr. Claussen married, June 4, 1910, Harriet Gay Alexander, of Chi- 
cago, and they have one child, Suzanne. Always taking a progressive in- 
terest in civic afl"airs, Mr. Claussen was chosen by the electorate of Miami 
in January, 1921, as a member of the committee of 15 selected to draft a 
new charter for the city. A man of broad culture and high ideals, he is 
always in the front ranks with those who lead the way and by the force of 
innate ability and strong personality commands today a position of large 
influence in the community. 

EDWARD C. RO:\IFH 

Edward C. Romfh, president of the First National Bank, of Miami, has 
been connected with important financial interests of the city since the 
period of early development, and is numbered among those who have been 
influential factors in the city's phenomenal progress. As a pioneer citizen 
he has helped to make much of the history of Miami, and his interests have 
been identified with its every phase of progress, contributing much in his 
important sphere to the well-being of the community and to the advance- 
Ill 



ment of its normal and legitimate growth. Some of the most important 
corporate enterprises in Miami owe their inception to his initiative and or- 
ganizing ability and their continued growth to his constructive manage- 
ment. Mr. Romfh is a native of Camden, Arkansas, born February 8, 1880, 
and he is a son of George B. and Elvira Virginia (Jordan) Romfh. The 
father is a native of Alabama, who moved to Florida, locating at Altoona, 
whence in 1888 he removed to Titusville. Seven years later the family re- 
moved to Atlanta, Georgia, but after a residence of six months there re- 
tui-ned to Florida, locating at Melbourne. 

Edward C. Romfh accompanied his parents in their various removals, 
acquiring his education principally in the Florida public schools. In 1896 
he became associated with his brother, Eugene B. Romfh, in the mercantile 
business at West Palm Beach, but after less than a year they moved to 
Nacogdoches, Texas. Oh August 1, 1898, Mr. Romfh returned to Florida 
and located at Miami. Throughout the years of his residence here he has 
been continuously identified with banking interests, first becoming con- 
nected with the Bank of Bay Biscayne, which he entered in 1898 as book- 
keeper. In 1902 he was largely instrumental in the organization of the 
First National Bank and served as cashier of the bank until 1910, when he 
succeeded to the presidency. In 1910 he organized the Miami Savings Bank 
and later re-organized the institution under the name of the First Trust 
and Savings Bank, of which he is now chairman of the board. He re-or- 
ganized the Miami Telephone Company in 1904 and directed its affairs until 
1914, the corporation having since been re-organized as the South Atlantic 
Telephone and Telegraph Company as part of the Southern Bell system. 
Mr. Romfh has always taken an active and intelligent interest in municipal 
affairs and has been a serviceable factor in much constructive work in be- 
half of the city. He served for five years as a member of the Miami city 
council and in this capacity re-drafted the present city charter into a work- 
able instrument. As Finance Commissioner, his tenure of office embraced 
that period of municipal expansion when much improvement work was ac- 
complished. During this time the first permanent paving was put down in 
Miami, the municipal docks built and the Flagler street and the Miami 
avenue bridges constructed, as well as the present sewerage system, and 
Mr. Romfh was active and influential in the inauguration and successful 
completion of this progressive work. He has also done much effective work 
in the interest of deep water for Miami, being among the first to recognize 
the essential wisdom of concerted action for a definite program, and the 
soundness of his judgment is freely acknowledged. 

Mr. Romfh married, January 26, 1905, Marie Antoinette de Camp, a 
native of Greenville, South Carolina, and they have three sons : Edward C. 
Romfh, Jr., Lawrence de Camp Romfh and Jules Romfh. A broad-minded 
man of affairs and large usefulness, Mr. Romfh stands foremost in the 
ranks of those who have aided and sustained the civic and material progress 
of Miami, and commands today a position of distinctive precedence in the 
financial and economic life of the community. 

112 



ROBERT VIRGIL ATKISSOJC 

Miami may justly claim a high order of citizenship and a spirit of en- 
terprise which conserves consecutive development and marks advancement 
along all lines of upbuilding. The city is signally favored in the citizenship 
of such men as Robert Virgil Atkisson, who has for many years been an in- 
fluential factor in civic affairs and prominent in all matters pertaining to 
the moral and intellectual advancement of the community. A man of dis- 
tinguished talent and broad public spirit, his marked abilities have won for 
him much more than local repute and he commands today a position of 
importance as one of those whose influence in the civic and economic life of 
the community is of the most beneficent order. 

Mr. Atkisson is a native of Marshall County, Tennessee, born May 13, 
1851. His parents were both natives of Tennessee and his grandparents 
came from Virginia and Kentucky. He was reared on the parental farm, 
about 50 miles south of Nashville, Tennessee, and as a boy became accus- 
tomed to all kinds of hard work on his father's large farm. He acquired 
his education in the academies of his native community, and had the ad- 
vantage of good, college-trained male instructors. As a young man he en- 
tered the sophomore class of Cumberland University, at Lebanon, Tennes- 
see, from which institution he was graduated in 1875 with the degree of 
A. B. He taught the college course over during the next three years, re- 
signing the chair of mathematics in Waynesburg, College, Waynesburg, 
Pennsylvania, in 1878. In September, 1878, he entered Union Theological 
Seminary, New York city, graduating therefrom in May, 1881. He was 
ordained to the ministry in July following, and served as pastor of a Pres- 
byterian church in Springfield, Missouri, and later as pastor of the same 
denomination at Louisiana, Missouri. In 1884 he followed Dr. Newman 
Smythe as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Quincy, Illinois, 
where he served for a period of seven years. He has supplied prominent pul- 
pits of St. Louis, Chicago, Omaha, Brooklyn and New York city. He sup- 
plied the pulpit and pastorate of the Central Congregational church of At- 
lanta, Georgia for five years. In 1900 he accepted assignment in the Florida 
Conference of the M. E. church. South, and was stationed at Jacksonville, 
Orlando, Ocala, Live Oak, Lake City and Miami. In 1914 he withdrew from 
the regular ministry and located in Miami. Here he built a substantial 
home and took his place in the ranks of the progressive and enterprising 
men of the community. He has always taken an active part in the public 
welfare of every community where he has resided, and his fine abilities 
were quickly recognized in Miami. He has served as chairman of the Civic 
Bureau of the Miami Chamber of Commerce in the directorate of that body 
from its beginning to the present time and his service and counsel has been 
an important element in the accomplished work of that organization. He 
was also the first juvenile probation officer of Dade County, serving in this 
capacity for about four years. Dr. Atkisson has probably preached niore 

113 



commencement sennons in the state of Florida during his pastorate than 
any other man, his scholai'ship and fine academic training being widely rec- 
ognized throughout the state. 

Dr. Atkisson married Belle McKeehan, of Springfield, Missouri, and 
they have two childi-en: G. H. Atkisson and Mrs. R. L. Putnam, both of 
whom reside in Miami. Dr. Atkisson is a Mason of standing and engaged 
in the great benevolent work of that order. He is universally recognized 
as a man of honor and influence, a progressive, virile citizen, thoroughly in 
harmony with the spirit of the age, who has contributed much to the ma- 
terial, civic and moral advancement of the community. 

JOHN SEWELL 

The City of Miami in behalf of its business and public interests owes 
a great and lasting debt to John Sewell, who since pioneer days has actively 
identified himself with its growth and progress, leaving the impress of 
his work and personality upon community histoiy. He has developed here 
a large and well managed mercantile enterprise, conducted under the name 
of John Sewell & Brother, while he has also taken a conspicuous part 
in politics and in the promotion of all movements of a constructive char- 
acter. He was born in Elbert County, Georgia, July 20, 1867, and is a son 
of Dr. Jeremiah W. Sewell, a practicing physician and surgeon, who 
brought his family from Georgia to Florida and settled in Kissimmee. 

John Sewell was reared in Elbert County and was 19 years of age when 
he moved with his parents to Florida. He began his active career in con- 
nection with the Florida East Coast Railway as foreman and superin- 
tendent during the construction of the line from Jacksonville to Miami, in 
the employ of J. S. Oliver, who had a contract for the building of the road. 
About 1891 he left the employ of Mr. Oliver and, taking a responsible posi- 
tion with the Florida East Coast Railway, superintended the construction 
of about 70 miles of track from Daytona to Rockledge. He was later trans- 
ferred to the hotel construction department under the contracting firm of 
McGuire & McDonald, the builders of all the Florida east coast hotels, and 
as foreman under them he helped to construct The Royal Poinciana and 
The Breakers at Palm Beach, where he had charge of grading the extensive 
grounds on the Poinciana reservation. Here he remained for several years 
and when the Royal Palm Hotel was begun in Miami was again transferred, 
coming to this city in charge of the excavation woi'k. By March, 1896, he 
had begun excavating where the Royal Palm was to be erected and when 
this was completed was placed in charge of the grading gang, cutting 
out the right of way and grading streets and laying paving. Mr. Sewell, 
in the interests of McGuire & McDonald, cleared, opened up and paved a 
number of the principal streets on the original townsite, the work being 
done with Dade County crushed rock. It was he who originated the idea of 
using this local product in crushed form for pavements and building pur- 
poses and in this way accomplished an important work in inaugurating a 

114 



new home industry. Altogether Mr. Sewell was in the employ of the Florida 
East Coast Railway iirterests for seven years, from 1892 to 1899. In the 
meantime he had established his residence in Miami and opened up a busi- 
ness enterprise in the city. In association with his brother, Everest George 
Sewell, he opened a shoe store, which was the first store in what was then 
Miami proper. Mr. Sewell left his brother in charge of the concern as 
manager, to continue as such as long as he himself was engaged in the 
hotel construction work. However, in 1899 he resigned his position with 
the Florida East Coast Hotel Company in order to concentrate all of his 
attention upon his other business affairs. The establishment, founded 
with a capital of $1,500, was conducted as a shoe store only for some time, 
a line of clothing and men's furnishing being afterward added. Under the 
name of John Sewell & Brother the business has made a continued growth 
during the yeai's and the tii'm has met with gratifying success, each year 
increasing their stock until they now own one of the largest mercantile 
enterprises in southern Florida. Mr. Sewell has proven himself a capable, 
energetic and discriminating business man and the substantial and steady 
growth of the concern is in a large measure due to him. Possessed of an 
aggressive and daring spirit, he has, moreover, the power of carrying for- 
ward his plans to successful completion and as a result has worked his way 
upward, winning a degree of prosperity which influences in an important 
way general commercial expansion. 

Mr. Sewell married, June 16, 1897, Jessie Byrd Keller, of Daytona, a 
native of Alabama. Three children were born to their union: Jaqueline, 
who died at the age of four; John Jackson, and Crozier Keller. It is not 
alone as a business man, however, that Mr. Sewell has done splendid work 
for Miami, for since the early days of the city's foundation he has taken a 
conspicuous part in public affairs, proving his loyalty and good citizenship 
by constructive public service. From 1901 to 1907 he served as county 
commissioner and during the time was largely instrumental in bringing 
about many needed improvements, including the securing of good roads for 
Dade County. To the duties of the office of county commissioner he added 
in 1903 those of mayor and for four years served in that capacity, giving 
to the people of the city the services of a capable executive, a far-sighted 
and able business man and a discriminating politician. Mr. Sewell's activi- 
ties have touched and affected only those business affairs which are import- 
ant and constructive in character and those political and public interests 
which are honorable and worthy and he stands today foremost among the 
city's honored pioneers and valued citizens. 

JUDGE H. PIERRE BRANNING 

Judge H. Pierre Branning, judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of 
Florida, ranks with the leading jurists of the state, his ability, knowledge 
and conscientiousness of service being widely recognized. He possesses a 
profound knowledge of jurisprudence and the vexed and intricate questions 

115 



growing out of its interpretation, and his fidelity of purpose and tolerant 
individuality has brought honor and dignity to the important public trust 
he has ably filled for many years. Judge Branning is a native of Osteen, 
Volusia County, Florida, born August 18,1877, and is a son of W. C. C. and 
Rhubannah (Gaines) Branning, both of whom were also natives of the 
State of Florida. The father now lives at West Palm Beach and the mother 
is deceased. W. C. C. Branning is familiar with much of the unwritten 
history of this section of Florida and has been identified with its later 
development. The Branning family has been in Florida since 1815. George 
Branning, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this review, lived at 
Middleburg, Clay County, and it is matter of record that his father received 
a land grant from the Spanish government, and the grant was confirmed 
by the United States government when Florida was ceded to us. 

Judge H. Pierre Branning acquired his early education in the public 
schools of Titusville, Florida, and later attended South Florida Military 
Institute, then located in Bartow and now a unit of the Florida State Uni- 
versity at Gainesville. He then took up the study of law at Cumberland 
University, at Lebanon, Tennessee, from which institution he was gradu- 
ated in 1901. He began his professional practice at West Palm Beach, 
where he resided until 1908. In 1907 he had been elected county solicitor 
and in 1908 removed to Miami. He has the distinction of having been the 
first county solicitor for the criminal court of record of Dade CountJ^ 
After a service of 18 months as county solicitor, he was engaged in inde- 
pendent practice in Miami until October 26, 1914, when Governor Park 
Trammel appointed him judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida 
to fill the unexpired term of Judge L. W. Bethel, deceased. He was nomi- 
nated for this office in the democratic primary in 1916 and began his 
regular term in 1917. 

Judge Branning married, November 6, 1907,, Edith Beatrice Hand, of 
Remington, Indiana, and they have one son, William Sterry Branning. He 
is a member of the board of stewards of Trinity M. E. Church, Miami. A 
man of the highest principles and ideals, few of his contemporaries can 
point to a record more faultless in honor, fearless in conduct or stainless in 
reputation. 

SIMPSON BOBO DEAN 

Simpson Bobo Dean, editor and owner of The Miami Daily Metropolis, 
was born at Walnut Grove, Alabama, March 21, 1871. His father Vv^as 
Major L. W. Dean, a native of South Carolina, and his mother Hattie (De 
Jouniette) Dean, who was born in Virginia. S. Bobo Dean went to school 
in Alabama and acquired his first newspaper experience there. In 1904 
he came to Dade County, Florida, stopping at Juno. In 1896 he established 
the Palm Beach News, which he conducted until 1905 when he came to 
Miami and became half-owner of the Miami Metropolis, holding such an 
interest until 1915 when he became sole owner of the paper. Mr. Dean 
was married in 1897 to Nina Wood, of Michigan, and they have three chil- 
dren, Dorothy, Rolland and Gordon. 

116 



CLIFTON D. BENSOX 

Clifton D. Benson, one of the most able members of the Dade County 
bar, has been identified with many important phases of community de- 
velopment. He has been an influential factor in the promotion of large 
and important enterprises, while his devotion to the cause of civic right- 
eousness and law enforcement has been a vital element in influencing the 
moral progress of the community. 

Mr. Benson is a native of Baltimore, Maryland, born October 10, 1877. 
He is a son of Alonzo Theodore and Emma L. (Doll) Benson, the 
former a native of Maryland and a descendant of Thomas Benson, who 
came to America from England in very early times. Mr. Benson was 
reared in his native city and there acquired his preliminary education. He 
was graduated from the Baltimore public schools at the age of thirteen 
and from the Baltimore City College at eighteen, taking first honors in a 
class of thirty-nine. After his graduation he taught school for two years, 
and then at the age of twenty entered Johns Hopkins University, where he 
began a full classical course. After a few months, however, he accepted 
the chair of Latin and Psychology in the Baltimore City College, holding 
this position for two years and studying law meanwhile in the University 
of Maryland, where he completed a three years' course in two years. He 
was admitted to the bar in June, 1902, and entered upon the practice of 
his profession in Baltimore as a member of the firm of Benson, Marshall 
& Welsh, which association continued for eight years. In 1910, on account 
of impaired health, he gave up active practice for a time, and in June, 1911, 
came to Miami. He here associated himself with the law firm of Hudson & 
Boggs, remaining with them for a period of about two years, after which 
he began the practice of law in his own name. For a number of years he 
was actively engaged in the real estate field in Miami, having organized and 
developed, together with several associates, the Realty Securities Corpora- 
tion, at one time the second largest real estate business in Miami ; the 
Woodlawn Park Cemetery Company, of Miami ; the Myrtle Hill Cemetery 
Company, of Tampa, Florida; and the Westmoreland and other subdi- 
visions. Having later disposed of his interests in these firms, in 1919 he 
associated with him in his practice William M. Huber, under the firm name 
of Benson & Huber. On May 1, 1921, a professional association was formed 
with Robert L. Shipp, formerly of Moultrie, Georgia, for the general prac- 
tice of law under the firm name of Benson & Shipp. 

Mr. Benson has always been active in reform movements and church 
activities. He was for a number of years superintendent of the Presby- 
terian Sunday School, building it from a small membership of about 
seventy-five to a highly organized school of a membership of more than 
five hundred, in connection with which he organized the William Jennings 
Bryan Bible Class now meeting in the Royal Palm Park. In the early days 
he was also active in the fight for local prohibition which was finally estab- 

117 



lished, and in the enforcement of this law he acted as assistant county 
solicitor, being placed in this position by a citizens committee for the pur- 
pose of demonstrating that the prohibition law could be enforced, and as 
a result of this work and of those who assisted him the saloons in Dade 
County were entirely closed. 

Mr. Benson married April 7, 1909, Ella Louise Sprigg, of Baltimore, 
who was born, reared and educated in that city. He is a member of the 
American, the Florida State and the Date County Bar Associations, and is 
widely recognized as a lawyer of great power, ability and influence, pos- 
sessing a comprehensive knowledge of legal principles and being forceful 
and logical in his application of the law. 

JOHN H. CHEATHA^I 

One of the most progressive, active and able business men of Miami 
is J. H. Cheatham, identified with important mercantile interests here 
since 1898 and connected through investment with some of the most val- 
uable properties of the city. He is one of the pioneer business men of 
Miami and an influential factor in municipal growth and expansion. 

Mr. Cheatham is a native of Virginia, born at Evergreen, Appomat- 
tox County, September 29, 1874. He is a son of Colonel Thomas I. M. and 
Virginia (Cavii;horn) Cheatham, both of whom also were natives of the Old 
Dominion, where they spent their entire lives. Colonel Thomas I. M. 
Cheatham was a son of Colonel Z. E. Cheatham, who was the first rep- 
resentative of Appomattox County in the Virginia House of Delegates. 
He was one of the organizers of Appomattox County in 1845, and was re- 
elected several times to the House of Delegates, ranking as one of the 
distinguished men of his day and generation. 

J. H. Cheatham has been identified with mercantile interests since he 
was sixteen years of age, when he formed an association at Bartow, Florida, 
and where he resided for a period of six years. From there he removed 
to Miami, his residence here dating from July 16, 1898. Here he estab- 
lished a high-class clothing and gents' furnishings emporium, which he has 
since continuously conducted and which has grown to an important enter- 
prise, ranking with the best establishments of its kind in the State. Mr. 
Cheatham is one of the pioneer residents of Miami and has witnessed its 
progress from pioneer days and taken an active and helpful part in much 
that pei'tains to the substantial upbuilding of the city. He is joint owner 
with his brother-in-law of one of the most valuable business blocks in the 
city, comprising five city lots and having a frontage of 100 feet on Flagler 
Street, 240 feet on Avenue D and 150 feet on Thirteenth Street, embracing 
twenty desirable business rooms. 

Mr. Cheatham married December 14, 1905, Emma L. Culpepper, 
daughter of Major J. M. Culpepper, of Fort Valley, Georgia. They have 
three children : Joseph M., John H., Jr., and Catherine. He is an able and 
discriminating business man and a progressive and public-spirited citizen 
interested in every woi*thy movement calculated to benefit or advance the 
wonderful development of Miami. 

118 



1! 



RALPH MIDULETON MUNROE 

High on the roll of honored pioneers of Dade County appears the name 
of Ralph Middleton Munroe, who first came to Coconut Grove in 1877 
and whose long residence in this section compasses the period of its great 
development. Mr. Munroe is a native of New York city, born April 3, 
1851. He is a son of Thomas and Ellen (Middleton) Munroe, the former 
born in Concord, Massachusetts and the latter a native of England. Thomas 
Munroe was a prominent wholesale dry goods merchant and manufacturer, 
with establishments in New York city and London, England. 

Ralph Middleton Munroe was reared on Staten Island, where his par- 
ents had removed when he was four years of age. He acquired his education 
in Eagleswood Academy, Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and in private schools 
of Staten Island, and special courses at Columbia University. His collegiate 
training included his education as a yacht designer and he was actively 
engaged in this and other mechanical fields until he came south in 1877. 
In that year he came to Coconut Grove, being among the pioneers in that 
early settlement. He acquired some land there and became an active par- 
ticipant in community affairs. In 1886 he bought his present site, having 
by that time decided to remain, and in 1888 he declared it as his permanent 
residence. During the long years of his residence in Coconut Grove his 
influence has been beneficial and far-reaching, touching many phases of 
community interest and affecting particularly its moral and intellectual 
growth. He has helped to mold the history of that section, and is familiar 
with its early traditions. He helped the Peacocks start the first hotel in 
Coconut Grove, though not interested in it financially. For many years he 
represented the Merritt-Chapman Wrecking Company, of New York, as 
underwriters' agent in connection with sea ci'aft. He was correspondent 
for the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Fisheries, as well as 
for the Museum of Natural History of New York. Meanwhile he was en- 
gaged with yacht designing, and he produced a large majority of the 
earlier yachts on Biscayne Bay. He still follows his profession and is a 
New York registered naval architect and designer. He, in association 
with Kirk Munroe, organized the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club in the spring 
of 1887, and for a period of 22 years he was commodore of this club. 
He retired in 1909, and was made an honorary life member of the club in 
recognition of his long and honorable service. He is the owner of a hand- 
some yacht and still enjoys the pleasures incidental to life at sea and those 
activities that claimed the time and attention of his earlier years. He is 
the owner of Camp Biscayne, a popular winter resort camp and is active in 
its care and management. 

Mr. Munroe married, in 1879, Eva A. Hewitt, of New York, who died 
in 1881. In 1895 he married Jessie Wellington Wirth, of Connecticut, and 
they have two children : Wirth Middleton Munroe and Pattie Wirth Mun- 
roe. A man of constructive intelligence, broad views and blameless char- 

119 



acter, he is richly endowed with those qualities that make men esteemed 
above their fellows. His life and labors have proven of great benefit to 
the community at large and he stands today among the most honored and 
highly esteemed citizens of Dade County. 

WILLIAINI WALLACE FARIS, D. D. 

There is no earthly station higher than the ministry of the gospel; 
no life can be more uplifting and nobler than that which is devoted to 
ameliorating the condition of the human race, a life of service for the 
betterment of the brotherhood of man, one that is willing to cast aside 
all earthly crowns and laurels of fame in order to follow in the footsteps 
of the lowly Nazarene. It is not possible to measure adequately the height, 
depth and breadth of such a life, for its influence continues to permeate 
the lives of others through succeeding generations, so its power can not 
be fully known until "the sun grows cold and the stars are old and the 
leaves of the judgment book unfold." One of the self-sacrificing, ardent, 
loyal and true spirits who has been a blessing to this community and 
whose influence has brightened and bettered the lives of many is Rev. 
William- Wallace Faris, the venerable pastor emeritus of the First Pres- 
byterian Church of Miami. As a pioneer minister and pioneer citizen, 
he was one of the sturdy figures upon whom the burdens of the new 
community fell and he shared fully the trials and difficulties of those 
memorable days. His life has been characterized not only by ability of 
a high order but also by the most profound human sympathy which over- 
leaps mere sentiment and becomes an actuating motive for helpfulness. Not 
only as a pastor did he minister to the people, but also as a citizen he 
took his place in the foremost ranks of those who labored for the public 
welfare and for all those things that make for civic betterment. 

William Wallace Faris was born at Barlow, Ohio, August 25, 1843, 
and is a son of Rev. John M. and Ann Elizabeth (Wallace) Faris, the 
former a native of Virginia and the latter of Pennsylvania. The father 
was a minister of the Presbyterian church. Dr. Faris was reared and 
educated in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois. In 1866 he graduated from 
the old Chicago University with the degree of A. B., and in 1869 he 
graduated from McCormick Seminary, Chicago, in theology. He had 
been licensed to preach in the Chicago Presbytery in 1867 and was or- 
dained in 1868. His first pastorate was at Vermont, Fulton County, Illi- 
nois, where he was stationed five years. Then followed two years at 
Cape Girardeau, Missouri, two years at Peoria, Illinois, five years at Clin- 
ton, Illinois, two years at Carlinville, Illinois, and eight years at Anna, 
Illinois. He then accepted the editorship of the Occident, at San Fran- 
cisco, occupying the pulpit of various churches meanwhile. In 1893 he 
was called to the Hazelwood Church, Pittsburgh, and four years later, 
in 1897, came to Miami for reasons of his health. Here he found the 

120 



Presbyterian church with only nine members and the congregation was 
worshiping in a tent on Fourteenth Street. The Baptists were their 
guests every alternate Sunday, and choir and Sunday School were union 
affairs. Dr. Faris went to Coconut Grove every other Sunday and Rev. 
W. E. Stanton of Lemon City occupied the pulpit here. In 1901 Dr. Faris 
returned to Anna, Illinois, but two years later came back to Miami and 
remained active in ministerial work until 1919, when he retired as pastor 
emeritus. During his pastorate he increased the membership of the 
church from nine members to four hundred and forty members. The 
first event of note after Dr. Faris came to Miami was the coming of sev- 
enty-five hundred soldiers who camped here during the Spanish-American 
War. They left the town filled with typhoid, measles and mumps. The 
local relief society organized the previous year was turned over to Dr. 
Faris, who conducted the fight against sickness and poverty. In 1899 came 
the dengue epidemic and in the fall the yellow fever. The committee in 
charge of the relief work spent over twenty-seven hundred dollars in car- 
ing for the poor and sick before the quarantine was lifted January 11, 
1900. 

During the early years of his residence here Dr. Faris was made 
Master of the local Masonic Lodge, and he founded the local chapter of 
Royal Arch Masons and was its first High Priest. He is also an Elk and 
an Odd Fellow. In 1900 he was, for a short time, emergency principal of 
the public schools, and a few years later was made a member of the 
school board, serving as its chairman until his resignation in 1910. He 
represented his presbytery at the General Assembly in 1900, 1907 and 
1915. Since coming to Miami he has published two small volumes: one, 
"How to Talk with God," now out of print, and "The Christian Home,'" 
pubhshed in 1920. In 1887 his book, "Children of Light," was awarded 
place as five hundred dollar Fletcher Prize Essay by the trustees of Dart- 
mouth College. At Anna, Illinois, in 1883, he founded Union Academy, 
and was its principal for ten years, all told, during which time the school 
sent out several hundred teachers, preachers, doctors and dentists. In 
the same year (1883) he founded The Talk, a weekly newspaper at 
Anna, Illinois, now published by one of his pupils. 

Dr. Faris was married June 21, 1868, a week after he was ordained, 
to Miss Isabella Hardie Thomson, a Chicago school teacher, and they have 
been blessed with twelve children. Of the four boys who grew to ma- 
turity three became Presbyterian ministers ; the eldest, Rev. Wallace S. 
Faris, dying in China in 1907, a victim of famine relief work after nine 
years' service. The second son. Rev. John T. Faris, D. D., is editor of the 
Presbyterian Board of Publication, Philadelphia. The third son. Rev. 
Paul Patton Faris, is on the editorial staff of Continent, Chicago, after 
eight years' service as a missionary in China. The fourth son, Philip M. 
Faris, is in business in Los Angeles. The six daughters are all living. 

121 



Mrs. M. H. King and Mrs. W. Stuart Hill reside in Miami. Mrs. Charles 
H. Wiley lives at Anna, Illinois, and Mrs. Theodore Lee Agnew is the 
wife of a physician of Ogden, Illinois. Mrs. George A. Armstrong, who 
served seven years as a missionary in China and whose husband is a 
retired missionary, lives in Alberta, Canada. Miss Sarah Faris is now 
in her ninth year as a missionary in China. There are twenty-three liv- 
ing grandchildren. 

The degree of D. D. was conferred upon Dr. Faris at Carlinville, 
Illinois, in 1885 by Blackburn College, the presidency of which institution 
he declined in 1891. On retiring from the active ministry Dr. Faris 
bought a small cottage at 548 Southwest First Street, where he is spend- 
ing the evening of life in quiet repose. During his long pastorate here 
he was brought in contact with all classes and he numbers among his 
stanch friends Baptists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Universalists, Catho- 
lics, Hebrews, and those outside of any church, as well as those from his 
own fold. Always calm and straightforward, never demonstrative, his 
entire Christian life has been a steady effort for the worth of Christian 
doctrine, the purity and grandeur of Christian principles and the beauty 
and elevation of Christian character. This community is rich in a thou- 
sand thronging memories of his benevolent work during the long years of 
his residence here and many are those who bless his name as one whose 
influence has been as a blessed benediction. 

JOSEPH ALBERT McDONALD 

No compendium such as the province of this work defines in its essen- 
tial limitations will serve to oft'er fit memorial to the life and accomplish- 
ments of Joseph Albert McDonald. He may well be called the father of 
Miami, for he was not only one of the first business men of the city but 
his activities, from the foundation of the community, touched and aff'ected 
practically every important phase of municipal expansion. His prece- 
dents and standards marked Miami's history; his ideals and enthusiasm 
influenced the direction of development and his initiative spirit and organ- 
izing power founded and built many of its great institutions, and today the 
spirit of his enterprise, energy and progressiveness are guiding elements 
in its security and greatness. He assisted Henry M. Flagler in the magic 
work by which the Florida east coast was transformed from a wilderness 
into a modern, populous countiy. He was one of the most able of Mr. 
Flagler's lieutenants and his brains, his energy and his dynamic personality 
wei'e responsible for the successful accomplishment of a great deal of the 
work which is now history in this state. Mr. McDonald, who died Novem- 
ber 5, 1918, was a native of Prince Edward Island, having been born in 
that province in the '50s, and he was a son of James and Ann (McKinnon) 
McDonald, both of Scotch ancestry. He acquired his education in the 
public schools of his native community and after laying aside his books at 

122 



an early age, learned ship carpentering, spending seven years thereafter 
engaged in that line of work in Canada, and afterward pursuing the busi- 
ness for five years in the United States. He lived in various parts of the 
counti-y until 1881 when he came to Florida, which state remained his home 
until his death. In the year of his an-ival in Florida the partnership of 
McGuire & McDonald was formed, engaged in the general contracting busi- 
ness. It was in this connection that Mr. McDonald did his first important 
development work on the east coast, his firm being retained for service on 
the construction of the great hotels then in course of erection by Henry 
M. Flagler. The fimi was engaged to build the famous Ponce de Leon and 
Alcazar hotels at St. Augustine and later were in charge of construction of 
the hotels at OiTnond in 1891. Two years later they built the Royal Poin- 
ciana at Palm Beach and in 1895 the Breakers at the same point. The 
latter was destroyed by fire in 1905 and was rebuilt the same year by Mc- 
Guire & McDonald. The fiiTn erected the Royal Palm in Miami in 1896 
and the Colonial at Nassau, Bahama Islands, in 1899. 

Mr. McDonald's activities at this period of his career were important 
and their effects far-reaching. They afforded him an opportunity of study- 
ing business and other conditions in various parts of Florida and of com- 
paring relative merits. The results of his study became apparent in 1896, 
when, at the very foundation of the city of Miami, he built for himself the 
Biscayne Hotel, a striking evidence of Mr. McDonald's faith in the future 
development of the community. He rapidly became a man of large and 
varied interests, becoming connected with many important business inter- 
ests of the city and figured as the founder and promoter of some of its 
most substantial enterprises. In 1902 he organized Ihe J. A. McDonald 
Lumber Company. At one time he was president of the Halcyon Hall Hotel 
Company, and he was also president of the Ocean Beach Realty Company, 
vice-president of the Miami Transfer Company and chairman of the board 
of directors of the Bank of Bay Biscayne. As president of the Miami 
Board of Trade (now the Chamber of Commerce) he did much construc- 
tive work in the general interests of the city, his versatile business ability 
being a forceful factor in advancement and growth. Specific instances 
may be mentioned of his timely aid to the city in hours of need and of his 
untiring labor in the support of existing institutions as well as his efficient 
work in the organization of new enterprises. He aided the Florida East 
Coast Ice Company at a time of great peril when its affairs were entangled, 
accepting the office of president and effectually relieving it from financial 
embarrassment. Each year which he lived in Miami chronicled something 
to his credit along lines of business development and added something to 
the esteem in which he was uniformly held. 

In 1870 Mr. McDonald married Elizabeth Wallace, of Derby, Connecti- 
cut, and they became the parents of three children, of whom only one is 
now living, Mrs. John B. Reilly, of Miami. 

Mr. McDonald was a member of the Roman Catholic Church and 

123 



molded his life according to its principles, taking an active part as a promi- 
nent churchman in this section of the state. He was identified with the 
Knights of Columbus and was a member of the lodge of Elks. He took an 
active part in the organization and incorporation of the city of Miami and 
for the first three years of the existence of the community was a member of 
the city council, an office he again held later. His life and work were a 
part of the city's growth and so intimately intermingled with all the forces 
of good that specific mention of any particular achievement is but random 
acknowledgment of a career singularly fruitful of just and honorable 
deeds. A man of wide sympathies and broad charity he never sought self- 
exploitation and when he aided the unfortunate, as he constantly did, his 
left hand never knew what his right hand did. Only those who came within 
the close circle of his friendship knew the full scope of his powers or the 
extent of his interests and yet to the people of Miami he will always stand 
as the splendid representative of the prominent capitalist to whom business 
was but one phase of life and did not exclude his active participation in 
all the other vital elements which go to make up the sum of human 
existence. 

KIRK INIUNROE 

This biographical memoir has to do with a character of unusual force. 
As one of those distinguished types of the world's workers. Kirk Munroe 
has long held a place of eminence in the domain of literature and his name 
today has an abiding place in the hearts of countless thousands throughout 
the world as one who has given freely of his great talent for the enjoyment 
of others. Coconut Grove, one of the choicest gardens of tropical nature, 
numbers this celebrated author as one of its citizens. He is, in fact, a 
pioneer settler of that community and has had much to do with the devel- 
opment of the locality and its moral and intellectual advancement. Kirk 
Munroe was born at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, September 15, 1850, and 
is a son of Charles and Susan (Hall) Munroe. He acquired his education 
in the common schools of Appleton, Wisconsin, and at Cambridge Uni- 
versity and Harvard University. He took up literature as a profession 
while a young man, and achieved early distinction as a writer of books for 
boys. He has been a prolific writer and his books have met with the suc- 
cessful endorsement of large sales. He was the first editor of Harper's 
Round Table, his editorship covering the years 1879 to 1882. Among his 
best known books are : Wakulla, The Flamingo Feather, Derrick Sterling, 
Crystal Jack & Co., The Golden Days of '48, Dorymates, Campmates, Ca- 
noemates, Raftmates, The Fur Seal's Tooth, Snow Shoes and Sledges, Rick 
Dale, The Painted Desert, The White Conquerors, At War With Pontiac, 
Through Swamp and Glade, With Crocket and Bowie, Under Orders, 
Prince Dusty, Cab and Caboose, The Coral Ship, Big Cypress, The Ready 
Rangers, The Copper Princess, In Pirate Waters, Forward March, Shine 
Terrill, Midshipman Stuart, Son of Satsuma, The Blue Dragoon, Under 
the Great Bear, Brethren of the Coast, The Belt of Seven Totems, The Out- 

124 



cast Warrior, and For the Mikado. These are all bocks for boys. His 
works are marked by gracious fancy and adroit polish, and his wonderful 
power of descriptive, narrative has opened vistas of joy to the younger 
folks of many lands. 

Mr. Munroe married, September 15, 1883, Mary, daughter of Mrs. 
Amelia Barr, the noted authoress. Their villa at Coconut Grove is the 
center of an exclusive social and literary circle. 

FREDERICK S. JNIORSE 

A publication of this nature exercises its most important function when 
it takes cognizance, through proper memorial tribute, of the life and labors 
of so good a citizen as was Frederick S. Morse, whose death occurred July 
2, 1920. He was one of the first citizens of Miami and always maintained 
a first place in the hearts of his fellow citizens. He was of the older gen- 
eration of Miami men and through the many years of his residence here he 
was a potent but unobstructive factor in the life of the community. He 
served Dade County as a representative in the lower house of the legisla- 
ture in the years 1893 and 1894 and again in the years 1899 and 1900. He 
was one of the incorporators of the city of Miami and was elected presi- 
dent of the first city council. He was prominently connected with import- 
ant real estate interests in Miami and was one of the real builders and 
promoters of the city. He was noted for his business ability, and his 
friendships extended through all classes of men, for he was the warm per- 
sonal friend of every worthy person with whom he came in contact. His 
was the kind of judgment men sought and his aid was that which all in 
need eagerly looked for. 

Frederick S. Morse was born in Boston, Massachusetts, August 18, 
1859, and was a son of Ira and Julia (Streeter) Morse. He was a repre- 
sentative of an old New England family and a direct descendant of Samuel 
Morse, who emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1630 and who 
was the progenitor of the American branch of the family. Samuel Morse 
settled in Boston, where his descendants are prominent to the present time. 
Frederick S. Morse was educated in the Boston public schools. In early 
youth his health failed and he was obliged to seek a wanner climate. Ac- 
cordingly, in 1884, he came to Florida and settled on the present site of 
Miami. The town at that time had not been founded and its buildings con- 
sisted of a post-oflice and a few buildings. In 1893, however, more 
settlers had come to the community, the Florida East Coast Railway having 
announced its intention to build to Miami. It was at this time that Mr. 
Morse embarked in the real estate business, recognizing in that field of 
labor a rare opportunity. He afterward became connected also with the 
East Coast Railway in the capacity of right-of-way man and rendered very 
valuable assistance in securing right of way in southern Dade County and 
from Miami to Key West. In 1896, with the advent of the railroad, the 
city was incorporated, Mr. Morse as a pioneer settler assisting in the work 

125 



of laying the foundation for the present community. He later became 
connected with the land department of the Florida East Coast Railroad 
Company and from that time until his death he was closely identified with 
the lands of that and related companies, acting as local agent for them in 
the sale of property. In addition, he had large private real estate interests 
of his own, and was one of the most conspicuously successful business men 
of the city. 

Noted for his modesty and quiet bearing, Mr. Morse was one of the 
most generous of men, never withholding his charity from any worthy 
cause and always contributing cheerfully to any of the demands made upon 
him or his purse by the public. He was a loyal and devout member of the 
Episcopal Church, and was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and 
of the Knights of Pythias and the Elks. Mr. Morse was survived only 
by his mother, Mrs. Julia S. Morse, to whom he was a devoted and 
loving son. Mrs. Morse continues to reside in Miami. She was bom 
in 1839 in old Boston and came to Miami in the fall of 1906, She is 
a woman of rare culture and learning, and though now in her eighty- 
second year she is still endowed with keen intellectual faculties and is 
a woman of gracious personality. 

The career of Frederick S. Morse is a story of a life whose success 
was measured by its usefulness. He was in the most significant sense 
humanity's friend. In all the relations of life he displayed that con- 
sistent spirit, that innate refinement and unswerving integrity that en- 
deared him alike to man, woman and child, and to all familiar with his 
life and his work there must come a feeling of reverence in contemplat- 
ing his services and their beneficial results. Passing quietly out of life, 
as he had lived it, he left an indelible impress for good on Miami that 
will long be cherished by those left to mourn. 

JAMES R. REID 

The conditions under which industrial and commercial enterprises are 
prosecuted in this city of phenomenal advancement demand men who are 
forceful and of strong potentiality, courage and judgment. Numbered 
among such representatives in the personnel of the successful and enter- 
prising business men of Miami is James R. Reid, president of the North 
Bay Shore Land Company, whose connection with the development of 
large and important property interests has been a serviceable factor in 
advancing the general development of the community. 

James R. Reid is a native of Bowling Green, Ohio, and comes from a 
family long prominent in the Buckeye State, members of the family, on 
both the paternal and maternal side, having figured conspicously in the 
early history of northern Ohio. He is a son of John H. and Augusta A. 
(Howard) Reid, the former a native of the State of Pennsylvania and the 
latter bom at Fort Meigs, Ohio. John H. Reid, Captain of Company D, 
86th, Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil war, was a prominent law- 

126 



yer and shared with Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court 
Morrison R. Waite, of Toledo, the honor of being Nestor of the bar in 
northwestern Ohio. He was a close friend of Chief Justice Waite, at 
whose home he was married. An older son, Frank A. Reid, Esq., sustains 
the legal prestige of the family, and is still in active practice at Bowling 
Green, Ohio. The youngest son, Richard W. Reid, and the only daughter 
(now Mrs. Harris K. Vance) both reside in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 

Robert A. Howard, maternal grandfather of the subject of this review, 
was one of the early settlers of Ohio, settling at the head of the rapids in 
the Maumee River, where he built the first log school house west of Toledo, 
in which his daughter taught the first school. 

The Howard family has long been prominent in Fulton County, Ohio. 
Robert A. Howard served as treasurer of the county and was succeeded 
in this office by his son, who in turn was succeeded by the latter's son, the 
present incumbent, making a continuous record of service by different mem- 
bers of the family through three generations. 

John H. Reid died in 1885, his widow surviving until 1906. Upon his 
father's death, James R. Reid had the responsibility of the family and the 
rearing of his younger brother and sister. He acquired a public school 
education in the schools of Bowling Green and began his independent 
career there at the age of sixteen as clerk in a mercantile establishment; 
three years later he became a partner, and five years later succeeded to full 
ownership. The clothing and men's furnishing business occupied his at- 
tention for a period of twenty years at Bowling Green, Ohio, and Chatta- 
nooga, Tennessee, where he had several stores. He exchanged mercantile 
interests for real estate, following which he was for some time engaged in 
the real estate business in Chattanooga, Augusta, Georgia, and other places. 

He came to Miami in 1911 and here purchased six hundred and fifty 
town lots on the north bay shore, adjoining the Charles Deering Estate, 
in the promotion and development of which he is now engaged. He or- 
ganized the North Bay Shore Land Company, of which he is the president 
and active principal. He built the North Bay Shore Inn, one of the popu- 
lar resorts of the locality, and is now owner of South Beach Park at 
Miami Beach, one of the principal development properties there, having an 
ocean frontage of six hundred and fifty feet, extending through to Bis- 
cayne Bay. He confines his activities to the improvement and develop- 
ment of his own large interests. 

Mr. Reid married, October 2, 1889, Cornelia S. Carlile, daughter of 
Major Thomas J. Carlile, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, who was Mayor of 
that city at the time of his death, and to them have been born two sons : 
James R. Reid, Jr., and Carlile Reid. James R. Reid, Jr., is located at 
Houston, Texas, where he is engaged with the International and Great 
Northern Railroad. During the World War he was with the United 
States Ai-my at Leon Springs, Texas, and prior to that was with Gen- 
eral Pershing in his Mexican campaign. Carlile Reid is a member of 

127 



the United States Navy, now stationed at Cavite, Philippine Islands. He 
served in the Navy during the World War with Admiral Sims' squadron, 
and has the distinction of being in the first squadron to go overseas. 

Fraternally James R. Reid is affiliated with the Masonic order, being 
a member of Temple Lodge No. 430, Hamilton Chapter No. 49, Lookout 
Commandery No. 14 and Alhambra Temple, all of Chattanooga, Tennessee. 
He is Past Master of his Blue Lodge, and has the honor of having been 
made a master of his lodge two years after he was made a Mason. A 
man of broad experience and identification with representative interests, 
his work here has been efficient and constructive, a force in public growth 
and an element in the general development of the community. He is 
known as a public-spirited and progressive citizen and is accounted one of 
Miami's substantial business factors, Vv'hile his liberal culture and genial 
nature make him popular in the social life of the city. 

FRANK A. KEENE 

Frank A. Keene, superintendent of mails at the Miami postoffice, and a 
citizen of marked ability and substantial worth, is a native of Clinton, Iowa, 
born May 18, 1877. He is a son of Rev. A. C. and Nellie (Minor) Keene, 
the former born in the state of Wisconsin and the latter a native of the 
state of Vermont. Rev. A. C. Keene was a Baptist minister who occupied 
pulpits in Illinois and South Dakota for a number of years, and who re- 
moved to Miami, Florida, in 1908. While resident in Miami he occasionally 
occupied the pulpit at Fort Lauderdale and at Homestead, but failing 
health prevented him from accepting a permanent call. He was a man of 
high character and scholarly attainments. He died in Miami August 15, 
1914, where his widow still resides. She is a daughter of M. B. Minor, a 
prominent Illinois lawyer who rode the circuit with Abraham Lincoln in 
ante-bellum days. 

Frank A. Keene acquired a public school education in the schools of 
Watertown, South Dakota. He then entered the University of South Da- 
kota, at Vermillion, South Dakota. It had been his ambition to follow the 
ministry, but his father's death compelled him to abandon it. He taught 
school and did newspaper work to enable him to go through college, where 
he did four years' work in three years. He was secretary of the United 
States Civil Service Commission at Watertown, South Dakota, for eight 
years, and served in the same official capacity in Miami for the past five 
years, resigning to accept his present position as superintendent of mails 
at the Miami postoffice. While in charge of the Civil Service Cominission 
in Miami, his jurisdiction embraced all of the East Coast of Florida, and 
his office had the distinction of sending more employees to Washington 
during the war emergency than any other Florida branch, having sent 
over 2,000 individuals to the various governmental departments. Mr. Keene 
has been in postoffice work since May 1, 1900, and connected with the 
Miami postoffice since January 1, 1910, having been transferred here from 

128 



a clerical position in Watertown, South Dakota. After coming to Miami, 
he was a newspaper worker on the Herald for four years, working on the 
paper at night and doing duty at the postofhce during the day. When the 
Federal census for 1920 was taken Mr. Keene had charge of that important 
task in Miami, and his official record in this connection was so praise- 
worthy that he was the recipient of a personal letter of commendation 
from the Supervisor of the Census, transmitted through the Civil Service 
Commission at Washington. 

Mr. Keene was first married to Emma Cross, of Arlington, South 
Dakota, who died December 14, 1906, leaving two children: Marguerite 
and James Albert. On May 10, 1917, he was married to Helen McClure 
Park, of Red Wing, Minnesota. Mr. Keene is chairman of the board of 
deacons of the First Baptist Church of Miami, and he has been a member 
of the board of directors of the Miami Y. M. C. A. since its foundation. He 
is much interested in all that pertains to progressive public movements and 
in official and in private life has manifested the sterling traits of character 
which everywhere command respect and regard. 

FRANK H. ^VHARTON 

Frank H. Wharton, who has the distinction of being one of the earliest 
settlers in Miami, has throughout the many years of his residence here 
been prominently connected with its commercial and political life. He has 
been mayor of the city and otherwise active in public affairs and is num- 
bered among those who have been influential factors in advancing the 
general interests of the community and in promoting its civic and commer- 
cial progress. Mr. Wharton was born in Rockbridge, Hocking County, 
Ohio, April 11, 1870, and is a son of William A. and Martha Jane (Stewart) 
Wharton, both of whom were natives of Virginia. William A. Wharton 
removed with his parents to Ohio when he was still a young man and was 
a successful farmer in Hocking County for a number of years, dying upon 
his homestead there in 1900. His wife continued to make her home in Rock- 
bridge, Ohio, until her death December 26, 1920, in the ninety-first year 
of her age. 

Frank H. Wharton was reared on his father's farm in Hocking County, 
Ohio, and there acquired his education in the public schools. Dependent 
upon his own resources from an early age, his success is the result of his 
own hard work and determination. He left home, with the consent of his 
parents, as a boy of sixteen and came immediately to Florida, where he 
located in Lake County and obtained a position as teacher in the public 
schools, doing able work in this capacity for a period of seven years. While 
thus engaged he planted an orange grove and became also active in the 
business life of Mascotte. There he obtained a position as clerk in a store 
and worked his way upward until he became a partner in the concern. The 
cold weather of the year 1895 destroyed his orange crop and influenced his 
determination to remove to Crescent City, where for some time he worked 

129 



as a cross-tie contractor, removing in 1897 to Altoona. A year later he 
removed to Daytona and in November, 1897, he came to Miami, where he 
has since resided. He is, therefore, numbered among the oldest residents 
here and his energy, ability and personality have been powerful elements 
in the community's growth and upbuilding. He worked at various em- 
ployments in Miami, when the city was still a hamlet, his occupations in- 
cluding work on a dredge boat and as clerk in a local grocery store. In 
1903 he established the Magnolia Grocery Company, Incorporated, of which 
he became president and principal stockholder, controlling a large and 
profitable business. 

Mr. Wharton gives his political allegiance to the democratic party, and 
his ability and worth have been signally recognized by his party and his 
city. He was for six years a member of the Miami city council and was 
president of the council for two years. In 1907 he was elected mayor of 
the city and was reelected in 1909, serving in all four years and giving to 
the city a straight-forward, business-like and constructive administration. 

Mr. Wharton married, June 15, 1897, in Lake County, Florida, Ola B. 
Hinson, a native of that section, and they have four children: Florence 
Estelle, Floy Ruth, Frankie May, and Fannette Ola. Florence Estelle was 
the first Miami-born graduate of the Miami high school, and Floy Ruth 
was the second Miami-born graduate of the high school. Fraternally he is 
connected with the Masonic order, belonging to the Knights Templar, and 
he is also a member of the Elks, and a member of the Miami Rotary Club. 
Mr. Wharton's interests are thoroughly identified with those of Miami, 
where he has so long resided, and he is recognized today as an influence 
in the city's aff"airs and a public-spirited citizen whose aid and cooperation 
may be had for any movement calculated to promote municipal growth 
or to advance the public interests. 

PARKER ADAIR HENDERSOX 

Parker Adair Henderson, sole owner of the P. A. Henderson Lumber 
Company and a potent factor in the general business life of Miami, was 
born in Hampton, Henry County, Georgia, Januaiy 7, 1875. He is a son 
of Arthur J. and Irene (Adair) Henderson. Arthur J. Henderson was a 
prominent manufacturer of cotton goods at Hampton Georgia, and died 
there in December, 1917. 

Parker Adair Henderson was reared in Hampton, Georgia, and ac- 
quired his education in the public schools of that community. Laying aside 
his books at the age of sixteen, he took charge of one of his father's saw 
mills in South Georgia and from that time until the present he has been con- 
tinuously identified with the lumber industry, which he thoroughly under- 
stands in principle and detail. He is not only an excellent executive and 
business manager, but also a practical workman,, capable of performing 
every process of the work by which the rough timber is transformed into 
finished building material. For 15 years he gave his attention to lumber in- 

130 



terests in Georgia, first as an employe and later as an independent employer 
and dealer, and in 1906 came to Miami, where he has since resided. He here 
organized the McCrimmon Lumber Company in association vvitli his 
brother-in-law, C. T. McCrimmon. In 1912 Mr. Henderson purchased his 
brother-in-law's interest, and since the business has been conducted under 
the name of P. A. Henderson — a name which stands for upright and hon- 
orable commercial methods and the highest standard of business integrity. 
Mr. Henderson was elected mayor of Miami in June, 1915, taking office 
the following November. He served two years in this official capacity, giv- 
ing to the city an able and straightforward administration. From a finan- 
cial point of view Mr. Henderson is one of the most successful men in 
Miami, and he is a large holder of valuable real estate properties. He has 
firm faith in the future of Miami and has given practical and beneficial 
evidence of it by substantial investment. In 1913 he constructed on the 
west side of Avenue D what is doubtless one of the most modern wholesale 
houses in the city. He is a director of the First National Bank and a direc- 
tor of the First National Company, and is president of the Miami Novelty 
Works, Incorporated, manufacturers and dealers in sash, doors and in- 
terior trim. 

In 1898 Mr. Henderson was united in marriage to Julia McCrimmon, 
of Rochelle, Georgia, and they have two sons: Parker, Jr., and Arthur J. 
Mr. Henderson is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and fra- 
ternally is connected with the Masonic order, in which he belongs to the 
commandeiy and the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member also of 
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Hoo Hoo. He is a 
wide-awake and energetic business man, modem in his methods and pro- 
gressive in his ideas, and his success has been used to further not only his 
individual prosperity but also the best interests of the community. His 
name is a synonym for ability, enterprise and that public spirit which is 
evidenced in practical work for the general welfare. 

O. B. SAILORS 

Closely identified with important corporate and business interests of 
Miami, 0. B. Sailors is numbered among those men whose initiative, fore- 
sight and discrimination have contributed in a substantial measure to the 
general business expansion and influenced the civic interests of the com- 
munity. As president of Sailors Brothers Company, Incorporated, owners 
of the Clyde Court Apartments, and vice-president of the Gralynn Hotel 
Company, Incorporated, he is connected with projects of public worth and 
his enterprise has been of practical and far-reaching value in the upbuild- 
ing of the city. 

Mr. Sailors was born in Wabash County, Indiana, May 20, 1875, and 
he is a son of J. J. and Sarah E. (Thorne) Sailors, the former also born in 
Indiana and the latter a native of the state of New Jersey. J. J. Sailors, 
now deceased, was a prominent merchant. 0. B. Sailors was educated in 
the public schools and when 17 years of age removed to Kokomo, Indiana, 

131 



where he became associated with a large department store. Later he be- 
came a traveling salesman for the John V. Farwell Company, of Chicago, 
traveling the southwest for a period of five years. Seventeen years ago he 
engaged in the retail mercantile business at Kokomo, Indiana, as one of the 
principals of Sailors Brothers, Incorporated, operating home furnishing 
establishments at South Bend, Indiana, and Terre Haute, Indiana, as well 
as at Kokomo. Mr. Sailors is president of the Sailors Brothers Company, of 
Kokomo, but the corporation has disposed of the other two stores, though the 
corporate name of the South Bend store is still retained. Mr. Sailors first 
came to Miami in 1914 and in the fall of 1917 located here permanently. In 
1918 he built the beautiful Clyde Court Apartments and in 1919 added the 
de luxe wing. The Clyde Court is one of the handsomest apartment build- 
ings in the entire South. Of modified Spanish architectural design, it is 
one of the most attractive structures in Miami, and enjoys the patronage of 
a high-class and discriminating public. 

Mr. Sailors married August 15, 1907, Edith Hillis, of Kokomo, Indiana, 
who is also a native of Indiana. They have one child, 0. B. Sailors, Jr. Mr. 
Sailors is a director of the First National Bank and the First National 
Company, of Miami. He is also a director of the Miami Chamber of Com- 
merce, and a member of the Rotaiy Club. Actuated at all times by a spirit 
of progress, he is recognized as a prominent public factor and accounted 
one of the representative and substantial men of the community. 

EUGENE K. JAUDON, M. D. 

Prominent among the professional men of south Florida is Dr. Eugene 
K. Jaudon, of Miami, who is widely recognized not only as an able and 
successful physician, but is honored also for distinguished military service 
rendered his country in its hour of need. Controlled and dominated by 
high standards of professional and personal integrity, both as a skilled 
physician and a public-spirited citizen, he easily ranks with the most influ- 
ential of his compeers in aff"airs looking toward the advancement of the 
community. Dr. Jaudon is a native of Orangeburg, South Carolina, born 
January 27, 1867, of French Huguenot descent on both sides. He is a son 
of Paul B. and Frances (Shuler) Jaudon. The father was a merchant in 
Orangeburg, and during the Civil War served as a soldier in the Confed- 
erate army, making a splendid record as a scout and sharpshooter. 

Dr. Eugene K. Jaudon was but three years of age when his parents 
moved to Waco, Texas, and thence in 1881 to Orlando, Florida. He was, 
therefore, educated in the public schools of both cities, completing the high 
school course in Orlando and then studying in Baylor University in Waco. 
He had also the added advantage of study under private tutors. In 1892, 
having determined to make the practice of medicine his life work. Dr. 
Jaudon entered upon the study of medical principles under the preceptor- 
ship of the late Dr. R. B. Rhett, a well-known physician of Charleston, 
South Carolina. Later he entered the Medical College of South Carolina at 
Charleston and in 1896 received his degree of M. D. from that institution. 

132 




&Jyca^cyi^^ii^ . ^. jJcc^^i-tA^-i^^ .^ ,'Q^ 



He afterward served as interne in the Charleston City Hospital from 
October, 1896, to April, 1897, taking up the active practice of his profes- 
sion in Lonestar, South Carolina, in the latter year. He there remained 
until 1901, when he moved to Georgetown and thence, in 1905, to Miami, 
where he has since devoted his attention to the conscientious peformance 
of the duties which devolve upon him in a professional capacity, and where 
he has established a reputation second to none as a skilled practitioner. 
During the great World War Dr. Jaudon rendered efficient service. He was 
local examiner for Dade County for the United States government from 
the beginning of the war until he enlisted for active service November 4, 
1917. He saw service as Captain of the Medical Corps and was assigned 
first at Camp Greenleaf, Chicamaugua Park, Georgia, being later trans- 
ferred to U. S. General Hospital No. 30, Plattsburg Barracks, Plattsburg, 
New York, where he was on duty until his discharge, December 4, 1918. 

Dr. Jaudon, in association with Dr. James M. Jackson and H. G. Ral- 
ston, then city councilman, organized and formed the first City Board of 
Health of Miami, with the co-operation of the Miami City Council. 

Dr. Jaudon married, July 6, 1898, Lillie Lee Harley, of Orangeburg, 
South Carolina, and they have one daughter, Hermione. Fraternally, he is 
connected with the Masonic order, in which he belongs to the Knights 
Templar, Scottish Rite, thirty-second degree, and Shriner, and is also a 
member of the Elks and the Knights of Pythias. He holds member- 
ship in the Dade County and Florida State Medical Societies, the 
Southern States Medical Association, the American Medical Associa- 
tion, and the Association of Military Surgeons. He is also a member of 
the American Legion. A man of broad experience and liberal culture, 
devoted to the arduous duties of a large professional practice, he yet 
finds time to cooperate in the furtherance of public projects v.iiich have 
to do with the material and moral welfare of the community. 

WILLI A:\r X. URMF.Y 

Among those men whose constructive ability and substantial enterprise 
have aided in the material advancement of the city and given an added 
prestige to the increasing popularity of Miami as a resort center is num- 
bered William N. IJrmey, of the Hotel Urmey, one of the high-class resort 
hotels of the South and one of the best conducted hotels in the country. 
Mr. LIrmey is a native of Indiana, born at Harrodsburg, that state, Sep- 
ember 27, 1872, and he is a son of Joseph D. and Mary (Gaskins) Urmey. 
He was educated in the public schools and at the Danville Business Col- 
lege, Danville, Indiana. For several years he was connected with the cut 
stone department of the great oolitic limestone industries of Indiana. He 
came to Florida in 1907, locating at Pensacola, where for two years he 
successfully operated the Escambia Hotel. Coming to Miami in 1911, 
he leased the San Carlos Hotel and for a period of five years conducted 
that hostelry in an equally successful manner. In 1916 he built the Hotel 

133 



Urmey, which opened its doors to the public January 4, 1917. In 1919 
two additional stories were added to the hotel and the size of the dining 
room doubled. The Hotel Urmey is a seven-story structure of beautiful 
architectural design and has a capacity of two hundred and fifty guests. 
It is of modern concrete construction, absolutely fire-proof, and is ideally 
located, being situated in the heart of the city and overlooking Royal Palm 
Park. The expenditure in equipment and furnishings is lavish and pro- 
fuse, the dining room in particular being unexcelled in appointment and 
service arrangement. It is accorded the patronage of an exclusive and 
discriminating clientele and in popularity and prestige ranks with the 
most notable hotels of the South. 

Mr. Urmey married. May 21, 1908, Maude Deckard, of Bedford, In- 
diana, and they are prominent in the social and club life of Miami. He is 
a Mason, being a member of the Commandery and Shrine. For six years 
he has been a member of the board of directors of the Miami Chamber of 
Commerce. He is recognized as one of the progressive, public-spirited 
business men of the city and a tangible force in its advancement. 

HENRY GOULD RALSTON 

Henry Gould Ralston, president of Ralston Brothers, Incorporated, 
owners and operators of The Fairfax Properties, and principal factor in 
the firm of Ralston, Ralston & Smith, prominent real estate brokers, is 
known in Miami as a man of enterprise, initiative and business aggres- 
siveness, his important interests touching and influencing general com- 
mercial and financial development. His able and efficient discharge of 
large and important tasks has gained for him a place among the men of 
marked ability and substantial worth in the community. Mr. Ralston was 
bom in Chicago, Illinois, November 17, 1884, and is a son of Robert White 
and Julia Skinner (Gould) Ralston. He is of Scotch-Irish ancestry on the 
paternal side, while his mother is of English descent. The Ralston family 
was established in America by John Ralston, who emigrated to the colo- 
nies from the north of Ireland in 1732 and settled in Pennsylvania. Both 
the Ralston and Gould families were represented in the colonial army 
during the Revolutionary War, the former by Captain John Ralston and the 
latter by Harry Gould. General St. John Bull Skinner, maternal great- 
grandfather of the subject of this review, served in the War of 1812, 
acquiring in that conflict the title of general. He afterward served as first 
assistant postmaster general under four presidents. He was a son of 
Major Joseph Skinner of the Revolutionary War. Robert White Ralston, 
father of the subject, was a prominent business man of Chicago and for 
many years connected with the stock yards in that city. He died in 1888 
and his widow afterward married Professor Walter Smith, who was at one 
time a member of the faculty of Lake Forest University. The family after- 
ward removed to Charlottesville, Virginia, where Professor Smith passed 
away in 1907. 

134 



Heniy Gould Ralston was reared in Lake Forest, Illinois, and there 
attended Lake Forest Academy and Lake Forest University. He after- 
ward entered Yale University and graduated with the degree of B. A. in 
1906. His mother and stepfather had in the meantime removed to Char- 
lottesville and Mr. Ralston joined them there, remaining until 1909. In 
July of that year he became identified with the Everglade Land Sales Com- 
pany in the capacity of first vice-president and member of the board of 
directors. He came to Miami October 1, 1909, to give his attention to 
the Florida interests of this corporation, which controlled 70,000 acres of 
Everglade land north and west of Miami. Mr. Ralston is president of 
Ralston Brothers, Incorporated, owners and operators of The Fairfax 
Properties, controlling one of the most valuable and desirable apartments 
and business blocks in Miami. He also is an important factor in the firm 
of Ralston, Ralston & Smith, prominent real estate brokers. Politically, 
Mr. Ralston gives his allegiance to the democratic party and he is promi- 
nent in local and state politics, having served during the presidential cam- 
paign of 1912 as a member of the Florida finance committee of the Demo- 
cratic National Committee. He served as a member of the Miami City 
Council for three years, from 1913 to 1917, and was harbor commissioner 
at one time and, with Dr. James M. Jackson and Dr. E. K. Jaudon, formed 
the first Miami Board of Health. He was a candidate before the primary of 
1920 for state senator from the thirteenth Florida district, but withdrew his 
candidacy. Mr. Ralston was chosen a member of the committee of fifteen, 
elected January 21, 1921, to draft a new city charter for the City of Miami. 
During the world war Mr. Ralston entered the officers' training camp at 
Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and was commissioned a captain of infantry, 
serving with the Thirty-seventh United States Infantry, which was held 
on the Te.xas border. For two years he served as a member of the board 
of governors of the American Legion, and for one year was president of 
the local council of the Boy Scouts. As a director of the Miami Y. M. C. A. 
in 1920, he was active in the work of that organization. He is also identified 
with the Miami Humane Society, of which he is an active member. 

Mr. Ralston married, June 1, 1910, Grace RadclifFe Day, of Smithfield, 
Virginia, and they have two daughters, Virginia Day Ralston and Julia 
Gould Ralston. Mrs. Ralston died July 6, 1916. Mr. Ralston is one of the 
most popular and prominent men of Miami and has extensive club affilia- 
tions. He is affiliated with the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club and in Chicago 
held membership in the University Club. He retains his connection with 
the Colonnade Club of the University of Virginia and is a member of Alpha 
Delta Phi, Miami Beach Golf Club and Miami Country Club. A man of 
broad culture, modern views and high ideals, he represents all that is best 
in modern business and in present-day citizenship and possesses in his 
energy, discrimination and administrative ability a guarantee of continued 
progress and of future distinction. 

135 



FRANK J. PEPPER 

Real estate activity stands indisputably as one of the strong sources of 
Miami's growth, improvement and adornment and the men who are active 
ill that field of labor have much to do with public progress, controlling and 
directing the character of the work accomplished for the city's benefit. 
Prominent in this connection is Frank J. Pepper, senior member of the 
firm of Pepper & Potter, one of the leading real estate brokerage firms of 
Miami. Mr. Pepper is president of the Miami Realty Board and vice- 
president of the Florida State Realtors Association and in his official 
position as well as in the capacity of a broker he has been an aggressive 
advocate of the square deal in real estate transactions, believing that the 
primary function of the broker is one of service. 

Fi*ank J. Pepper is a native of Cherry Creek, Nevada, born July 26, 
1880. He is a son of James M. and Emma (Geyer) Pepper, the former a 
native of the state of Kentucky and the latter born in New York state. 
James M. Pepper was a rancher, who removed from Kentucky to Missouri, 
thence to California. He later removed to Nevada and from there to 
Colorado and New Mexico, where he now resides. Frank Pepper acquired 
a high school education at St. Joseph, Missouri. Leaving school, he went 
to work as an office boy in the engineering department of the Chicago, 
Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company at St. Joseph. One year later he 
was promoted to chief clerk to the division superintendent of the road. 
After serving in this capacity for a period of two years he went to DeSoto, 
Missouri, as chief clerk of the division superintendent of the Iron Mountain 
Railroad Company, where he also served for a period of two years. He 
then left railroad service, removed back to St. Joseph, and became manager 
of the procuring department of the Blue Valley Creamery Company, of 
that city, and was thus engaged for two years. On account of the ill health 
of his wife he was attracted to the southland. He came to Miami in 
March, 1907, and became connected with the auditor's office of the Florida 
East Coast Extension, being transferred a few months later to the freight 
department of the same company. One year later he accepted the position 
of office manager for the chief construction engineer of the Florida East 
Coast Extension, which he resigned two years later to become paying 
teller with the Bank of Bay Biscayne. In June, 1910, Mr. Pepper became 
associated with the late Frederick S. Morse, agent for the large land inter- 
ests of the Florida East Coast Railroad and other large land corporations, 
and upon the death of Mr. Morse in July, 1920, Mr. Pepper, in association 
with B. S. Potter, succeeded to the business. Pepper & Potter conduct a 
general real estate business and represent the important land interests of 
the Florida East Coast Railroad Company, the Perrine Land Grant Com- 
pany, and other large corporations. The firm is one of known reliability 
and recognized standing and has handled some of the most important 
transactions of the local field. 

Mr. Pepper married, at St. Joseph, Missouri, June 21, 1905, Anna 

136 



Pearl Griffiths, of St. Joseph, who died at Miami, April 1, 1916, leaving a 
daughter, Maurine. On March 19, 1920, Mr. Pepper married Bernice 
Dodge-Parker, of Bradford, Vermont. He is a director of the Southern 
Bank and Trust Company and a director of the Miami Chamber of Com- 
merce and member Miami Rotary Club. He is an active and aggressive 
citizen, devoted to the cause of civic advancement — a public-spirited citi- 
zen whose interest and activity in community affairs arise from a patriotic 
devotion and loyalty to the general good. 

ROUDEV B. BURDINE 

Roddey B. Burdine, president of William Burdine's Sons, occupies a 
position of distinctive precedence in commercial circles of Miami. As head 
of the great department store whose twenty-one years' of history is con- 
temporaneous with much of the history of Miami, he has shown executive 
and organizing ability of a high order and become a prominent factor in 
the business field. Mr. Burdine was born at Verona, Mississippi, October 
14, 1887, and is a son of William M. and Mary (Taylor) Burdine, both of 
whom were also natives of the State of Mississippi. William M. Burdine, 
who was born in 1843, was a veteran of the Civil War, having served 
through that conflict as first lieutenant in the army of the Confederacy. 
After the close of the war he engaged in merchandizing in Mississippi for 
a number of years. In 1891 he came to Florida, locating first at Bartow. 
In 1898 he removed to Miami and here founded the establishment which 
now bears his name. He died February 1, 1911, and upon his demise the 
business was incorporated and R. B. Burdine elected to the presidency. 
The first Burdine store was located in a small building on Avenue D. In 
1890 they moved to a building on Twelfth street, and in 1912 the business 
was moved into the new Burdine building, known as "Miami's first sky- 
scraper." In 1916 the Chaille store was taken over, and in 1920 the new 
building and the adjoining property on the block, which included the entire 
corner, were acquired, giving the store a total of thirty-eight thousand 
feet of floor space. The establishment of William Burdine's Sons has the 
distinction of being the largest dry goods house in Miami and one of the 
largest and inost important retail stores in Florida. The stock of the cor- 
poration is owned by members of the Burdine family. 

Roddey B. Burdine was but a lad when the family removed to Miami. 
He acquired his education in the city schools and it may be said that he 
practically grew up in the establishment of which he is now the head, 
for when not engaged with his books he was constantly employed in the 
store, thus acquiring a detailed familiarity with every branch of the mer- 
cantile business which has been the foundation of his present success. 
Much of the credit for the prosperity of the store is due to the enterprising 
policy inaugurated by Mr. Burdine and to the modem and metropolitan 
methods established by him. 

137 



Mr. Burdine married, September 15, 1915, Zada Button, of De Land, 
Florida, and they have two children: Zada Dutton Burdine, age four 
years, and Patricia Burdine, age fifteen months. Mr. Burdine is a member 
of the Miami Rotary Club and is prominent in the social and commercial 
life of the city. 

GEORGE E. WARREN 

George E. Warren, principal factor of the Everglades Land & De- 
velopment Company, and one of the active and far-sighted business men of 
Miami, is a native of Scotland County, Iowa, born February 26, 1866. His 
parents, Isaac Thomas and Savilla T. (Huckins) Warren, were both natives 
of Meigs County, Ohio, who removed to the State of Iowa and later to 
Missouri. Isaac Thomas Warren was a contractor and builder and later 
was engaged in the real estate business. Both parents are now deceased. 

George E. Warren was reared in Hannibal, Missouri, to which city 
his parents had removed when he was one year old. He received a public 
school education and was associated with his father in the contracting 
business until he came to Miami in 1903. Here he engaged in fruit gi'ow- 
ing on West Fifth street, where he still resides, and where he has sixteen 
and one-half acres in grapefruit and oranges. Since 1915 he has been the 
principal factor of the Everglades Land & Development Company, control- 
ling valuable properties in the famous Everglade section of Florida. Mr. 
Warren is recognized as an authority on land values and his judgment and 
advice are often sought. His enthusiasm regarding the Everglades is typi- 
cal of the spirit of enterprise that has awakened the southland and will 
make it one of the richest agricultural sections of the world. His company 
conducts a general real estate business, maintaining offices on Flagler 
street, where an interesting exhibit of the products of the Everglades is 
shown. 

Mr. Warren was first married to Louise Smith, now deceased. In 1912 
he was married to Gertrude C. Congdon, of Mount Vernon, New York, and 
they are the parents of two children, twins: Edwin Holmes Warren and 
Elizabeth Gertrude Warren. Mr. Warren is a director of the Miami Cham- 
ber of Commerce and is chairman of the Everglades Bureau of that body. 
He has also served for several years as a director of the Florida Citrus 
Growers' Association. In the work of development of southern Florida he 
has taken an active pai't and is numbered among the men who have con- 
tributed largely to community expansion and growth. 

HARRY C. BUDGE 

Hariy C. Budge, general manager of the E. B. Douglas Company de- 
partment store, former postmaster of Miami, and a representative citizen 
who has been prominent in community affairs since pioneer days, is a na- 
tive of Urbana, Ohio, born September 23, 1872. He is a son of John and 
Mary (Grey) Budge, both of whom were natives of the state of Pennsyl- 

138 



vania, who, when young, removed to the state of Ohio. Both are now 
deceased. 

Mr. Budge was reared in his native city and there acquired a high 
school education. When thirteen years of age, and before he was out of 
school, he became a clerk in a dry goods store in Urbana for a period of 
four years. As a young man he came to Titusville, Florida, and was there 
associated with his brother, F. T. Budge, in the hardware business for 
about one year. He then opened a dry goods establishment in Titusville, 
which he successfully conducted until January, 1896. He came to Miami 
February 1, 1896, and is therefore one of the pioneer citizens of the city. 
Here he became associated with his brother as manager of the mercantile 
house of the F. T. Budge Company. On June 1, 1900, Mr. Budge was 
appointed postmaster at Miami. At the expiration of his commission from 
President McKinley, he was twice re-appointed by President Ptoosevelt, 
serving in all over thirteen years as postmaster, and giving to the city a 
public-spirited and businesslike administration characterized by many 
needed reforms and improvements. At the expiration of his official tenure 
he became general manager of the E. B. Douglas Company department 
store, one of the largest and most important mercantile establishments of 
Miami. He is recognized as one of the ablest business men of the city, 
possessing executive and organizing ability of a high order and being thor- 
oughly familiar with modern merchandising methods. 

Mr. Budge married, January 6, 1896, Lena Gardner, now deceased. 
Two children were born of this marriage: Catherine J. and John. On Sep- 
tember 10, 1918, he was married to Mrs. Gussie H. (Freeman) Herrick. of 
Portland, Oregon. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Masonic order, 
being a member of Biscayne Bay Lodge No. 124. During all the years of 
his residence here Mr. Budge has been active and prominent in promoting 
the welfare of Miami. His activities in this connection are far too numer- 
ous to mention in detail here, but it can truthfully be said that no progres- 
sive project has ever been inaugurated here since the founding of the city 
in which he has not rendered material and substantial aid. 

JUDGE J. E^IMET WOLFE 

Judge J. Emmet Wolfe, member of the law firm of Hudson, Wolfe & 
Cason, former judge of the Criminal Court of Record of Dade County and 
prominent in civil affairs of Miami, is a native of Butler county, Illinois, 
bom November 23, 1895. He is a son of J. Dennis and Mary C. (Brown- 
lee) Wolfe, both of whom were natives of Washington County, Pennsyl- 
vania. J. Dennis Wolfe was a lawyer and newspaper publisher, who re- 
moved his family to Florida in 1866, locating at Pensacola, where both 
parents died. Judge Wolfe was reared in Pensacola and resided there until 
he removed to Miami in 1915. He was prominently identified with public 
affairs in Pensacola, and was judge of the circuit court of the First Judi- 

139 



cial Circuit for a period of nine years, resigning the office to remove to 
Miami. On coming here he formed his present professional association as 
a member of the law firm of Hudson, Wolfe & Cason, one of the strongest 
fii-ms of the city. He was appointed judge of the Criminal Court of Rec- 
ord of Dade County October 21, 1918, to fill the unexpired tenn of the late 
Judge James T. Sanders. He resigned this position February 5, 1921, 
under pressure of his large private practice and the stress of duties inci- 
dent to his election as a member of the committee chosen by the electorate 
of Miami to draft a new charter for the city. In this election Judge Wolfe 
received the highest number of votes cast for the progressive candidates 
and was chosen as chairman of the committee, and in this position had a 
large part in drafting the proposed new charter. The wisdom of his 
counsel and advice, his constructive intelligence and progressive standards, 
as well as his broad public spirit, are freely acknowledged and widely rec- 
ognized. 

Judge Wolfe married in Tallahasse, Florida, September 14, 1906, 
Mattie V. Vinson, of Tallahasse, and they have three children: Emmet, 
Earl and Enid. Fraternally, Judge Wolfe is Past Grand Chancellor of the 
Knights of Pythias and is a member of Bay Biscayne lodge of Miami. He 
is a member of Trinity M. E. Church, Miami. He is a public-spirited citi- 
zen who seeks the benefit of the community along lines of progress, reform 
and improvement, and he stands in the front ranks of the representative 
citizens of the community. 

tho:mas j. pancoast 

Since Miami Beach became a center of interest to enterprising busi- 
ness men a few years ago, the development of that favored section has 
claimed the attention of a number of far-sighted, progressive men who have 
been quick to recognize the possibilities for constructive development. 
Among these is Thomas J. Pancoast, secretary of the Miami Beach Im- 
provement Company, Incorporated, who has been identified in an import- 
ant manner with extensive development operations there from the begin- 
ning and who is today an influential factor in its further expansion and 
growth. 

Mr. Pancoast is a native of Moorestown, New Jersey, born July 13, 
1865. He is a son of Josiah D. and Sarah M. (Thorn) Pancoast, both of 
whom were also natives of New Jersey. His father is deceased and his 
mother, now 86 years of age, continues to reside at Moorestown. The 
family comes from Quaker stock. Mr. Pancoast was reared in his native 
city and acquired his education in the Friends school there. As a young 
man he was connected with a Philadelphia wholesale clothing house. Re- 
turning to New Jersey, he was associated with John S. Collins in the mer- 
cantile business at Merchantville, New Jersey, for a period of 24 years. He 
came to Miami in 1912 to undertake the construction of the Collins bridge 

140 




«**w •■ 





across the bay as the first step looking toward the development of the Col- 
lins land. Work on the bridge was begun in July, 1912, and finished in 
May, 1913, at a cost of $100,000. The Miami Beach Improvement Com- 
pany was incorporated in 1912. This is a close corporation organized to 
develop their own properties. Mr. Pancoast, as secretary and treasurer, is 
the active manager of the corporation. He is also vice-president of the 
Miami Beach Bay Shore Company and connected in an important capacity 
with much of the work of development of Miami Beach. He served as 
mayor of Miami Beach from November, 1919, to November, 1920. 

Mr. Pancoast married, January 17, 1889, Katharine R. Collins, a na- 
tive of Moorestown, New Jersey, and a daughter of John S. Collins (men- 
tioned elsewhere in this volume). Mr. and Mrs. Pancoast have three chil- 
dren: J. Arthur Pancoast, a graduate of Swarthmore College, Pennsyl- 
vania, is associated with his father's Miami Beach interests; Russell T. 
Pancoast is a junior at Cornell University, where he is studying architec- 
ture ; Norman L. Pancoast will graduate from George School, near Philadel- 
phia, in 1921 and will then enter the Wharton School of Finance, Pennsyl- 
vania University. The family is prominent in the social life of Miami and 
Miami Beach. Mr. Pancoast is president of the Miami Beach Golf Club and 
vice-president of the Miami Rotary Club. He has been a member of the 
Miami Chamber of Commerce since his residence in Florida. He was a 
number of years president of the First National Bank, of Merchantville, 
New Jersey. He is widely recognized as a business man of constructive 
character and a citizen of fine public spirit whose work and accomplish- 
menta have had a notable effect upon the development of the community. 

M. C. HARDEE 

It is to men like M. C. Hardee that the South is indebted for its 
rebirth and its new era of prosperity — men who by their life work have 
brought about such changes in agricultural development that the earn- 
ing power of the soil exceeds that of many other sections. Mr. Hardee 
is a pioneer in the citrus fruit industry, his activities in this line dating 
from 1884, and he is today one of the largest individual growers, packers 
and shippers in South Florida and an important factor in the growth 
and expansion of this industry. 

Montelus Clifton Hardee was born in Hinds County, Mississippi, 
March 29, 1863, and is a son of Montelus and Celia (Reynolds) Hardee, 
the former a native of the State of North Carolina and the latter bom 
in Mississippi. The parents are deceased. Mr. Hardee was reared in 
his native State and there received a public school education. In 1884 
he came to Florida, locating at Lake Weir, where he planted an orange 
grove of thirty-five acres, which was destroyed by the freeze of 1886. 
Having lost all he had invested, he sought other occupation and for 
two years thereafter was connected with the construction department 

141 



of the Florida Southern Railroad, being located at Ocala, Florida. Later 
he removed to Indian River and engaged in the growing of pineapples, 
residing there for a period of twelve years. Removing to Boynton, he 
became an extensive grower of tomatoes. Five years later he located 
in Dania, Florida, where he resided for fourteen years or until his re- 
moval to Miami in October, 1919. He is an extensive grower of vege- 
tables and established his own packing houses. While in Dania he be- 
came interested in the possibilities of South Florida and set out a grove 
of sixty acres and planted one thousand acres of tomatoes in the Home- 
stead section south of Miami. Mr. Hardee is one of the largest and most 
successful growers in South Florida, having over one hundred acres in 
citrus fruits and over thirteen hundred acres in tomatoes, and operat- 
ing packing houses at Dania, Snapper Creek, Kendon, LaRange and 
Homestead, having three houses at the latter point. He has given close 
and exhaustive study to the cultivation of all kinds of citrus fruits and 
his successful operations have gained for him a prominent and creditable 
place among the representatives of horticultural interests in Florida. 

Mr. Hardee married, August 1, 1907, Maud Shehan, a native of 
Maryland. He is president of the Bank of Dania, a position he has held 
since the organization of the bank. He is also a director of the First 
National Bank of Miami. Possessed of a spirit of business initiative, 
broad, liberal and modern views, he has been very successful in his 
business career and has accomplished far-reaching results, contributing 
in no small degree to the expansion and material growth of Dade County 
and South Florida. 

G. DUNCAN BROSSIER 

G. Duncan Brossier, of the real estate brokerage firm of F. C. Brossier 
& Son, is numbered among the pioneer business men of Miami, having come 
to the city in 1891, five years before the railroad came through. Since that 
time his interests have been varied and important, touching and influencing 
many phases of general business life and resulting also in the attainment 
of an individual success which places him in the foremost ranks of substan- 
tial and influential citizens. 

Mr. Brossier was born in the City of New Orleans, May 28, 1877, and 
is a son of Colonel Felix C. Brossier (mentioned elsewhere in this volume), 
and Jenna A. (Moffat) Brossier. He was educated in the public schools of 
Florida and at the Florida State College, now the University of Florida, at 
Lake City, Florida, and is also a graduate of the Eastman Business College, 
at Poughkeespie, New York. He came to Miami from Key West in 1891 
and located here permanently in 1893. There were only one hundred and 
fifty families in Dade County when he came here. He homesteaded some 
miles out of the city for a time, and later was for a number of years en- 
gaged in the newspaper business when the papers were weeklies. In 1896, 
the year the city was incorporated, he established himself in the real estate 

142 



business, with which he has since been continuously identified, having been 
connected with the development of many important properties. The firm 
of F. C. Brossier & Son, of which he is the active principal, have handled 
a great deal of valuable country lands, and more recently have turned their 
attention to the development of city subdivisions. Their Central Park sub- 
division is perhaps one of the most attractive and desirable subdivisions 
ever opened in the city. The firm also has the management of many of the 
higher class properties of the city. 

Mr. Brossier's activities have not been confined to the promotion of 
his individual interests, but he has been prominently identified with the 
civic interests and the political history of the community. He has been 
an active and influential factor in the Miami Chamber of Commerce since 
its organization in 1896 and has held every office in that civic body. When 
the Chamber was incorporated he became its first secretary and in 1914 
he served it as president. He is largely responsible for the early success of 
the organization, as they had a membership of only one hundi'ed when he 
assumed charge and he increased the enrollment to six hundred and foi'ty 
members. He has likewise been active in the intei'est of the Miami Realty 
Board, which he organized in 1912 and served as its first president. He 
assisted in the reorganization of the board in 1920 and is now one of its 
directors. He is also vice-president and a director in the Florida State 
Realtors Association. 

Mr. Brossier served as secretary of public works before the present 
city government was established, and during this time the present fire 
building and other public works was constructed. In 1919 he acted as 
special assessor appointed by the city council to assess valuation of prop- 
erty in the City of Miami. He discovered ten million dollars worth of prop- 
erty, including over nine hundred buildings, that were not on the appraise- 
ment books, and he corrected the faulty system which made such errors 
possible. In January, 1921, he was elected a member of the committee of 
fifteen chosen to draft a new charter for the City of Miami. 

Military matters have a,\so claimed a share of Mr. Brossier's attention. 
He was for 25 years a member of the Florida National Guard, or state 
troops, being a regimental bugler when 12 years old. He organized the 
Second Regimental Band while a member of the State Troops. During 
the Madero uprising in Mexico he was one of two company commanders 
from Florida sent to the border, being captain of Company L of the Sev- 
enth Regiment. During the great World War he had charge of the local 
resei-ve corps and in this capacity trained 60 boys, eight of whom saw 
service as officers in the war, one a major. 

Mr. Brossier has been active in inaugurating and shaping the business 
policy and the political development of the city and his strength of purpose, 
energy and industry find expression in the promotion of the public interest. 
He is a man of alert, and enterprising spirit, possessing the resolute will 
which enables him to carry forward to successful completion whatever he 
undertakes, and his methods at all tinues are practical and progressive. 

143 



GASTON DRAKE 

Gaston Drake, president of the Drake Lumber Company, Incorporated, 
and identified with other important corporate and business interests, is one 
of the foremost men in the lumber industry in south Florida. Pre-emi- 
nently a busines man of the modern type, aggressive and enterprising, the 
range of his activities and the scope of his influence have reached beyond 
his special field. Mr. Drake is a native of the city of St. Louis, born August 
23, 1871. He is a son of James E. and Cornelia Berdell (Polk) Drake, the 
former born in Alabama and the latter a native of St. Louis, both deceased. 
Mr. Drake was educated at St. Luke's School, Philadelphia, and at Prince- 
ton University, graduating from the latter institution in 1894 with the 
degree of B. S. He began his business career at St. Louis where for two 
years he was engaged in the wholesale carpet business, following which he 
traveled for a number of years in the West Indies. He came to Miami in 
1899 and here established the Drake Produce Company, of which he is still 
the principal. He later embarked in the lumber business, in the develop- 
ment of which he has achieved a substantial success and won a prominent 
place among those connected with the lumber industry and subsidiary in- 
terests. The Drake Lumber Company's mills are located at Princeton, 
Florida, and have a capacity of 50,000 feet of lumber for a ten-hour day. 
Mr. Drake is vice-president and one-third owner of the Railey-Milam Hard- 
ware Company, of Miami, and has other substantial property interests. 

Mr. Drake married June 6, 1906, Mary E. Robinson, of Lake City, 
Florida, and they have two children: Mary Polk Drake and Cornelia Har- 
sell Drake. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic order, being 
affiliated with the Shrine and Knights Templar. Distinctively a man of 
affairs, his important business interests have not precluded his activity and 
interest in behalf of public projects which have to do with the material 
and moral welfare of the community. 

R. FREEMAN BURDINE 

R. Freeman Burdine, an able and influential member of the Dade 
County bar and a progressive factor in civic, social and business circles of 
Miami, is a native of Verona, Mississippi, born May 15, 1885. He is a son 
of William M. and Maiy T. (Freeman) Burdine, natives of Mississippi, 
mentioned elsewhere in this volume. He was educated in the public 
schools of Bartow, Florida, and in the Miami high school, his parents re- 
moving to Miami when he was thirteen years of age. Leaving school, he 
began the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1904. Removing to 
Apalachicola, Florida, that year, he began his professional practice in that 
city, where he continued to reside until October 1, 1912, when he removed 
to Miami and formed a professional association with Judge H. F. Atkinson, 
which continued until March 1, 1921. Mr. Burdine specializes largely in 
corporation and banking law and has been connected with a great deal of 

144 



important litigation. He is recognized as a lawyer of marked ability, thor- 
oughly familiar with precedent, and in the conduct of cases has been re- 
markably successful. In addition to his professional practice, Mr. Burdine 
is identified with the mercantile establishment of William Burdine's Sons, 
being secretaiy and treasurer of the corporation. He is also connected 
with other corporate interests in the organization of which he has been a 
factor. 

Mr. Burdine married, February 9, 1909, Genie Moore, daughter of 
James W. and Mary Moore, of Apalachicola, Florida, and they are popular 
in the social life of Miami. Fraternally, Mr. Burdine is a member of the 
Elks and the Knights of Pythias. As a public-spirited citizen he is inter- 
ested in all that pertains to the welfare of the community and can be found 
in the front ranks of those who seek further advancement of Miami along 
lines of material expansion and moral and intellectual development. 

WILLIS W. HALL 

Willis W. Hall, well known as an educator and successful business man 
of Miami, was born March 24, 1874, at Concord, Florida. He is the son of 
George W. and Amanda M. (Mobley) Hall, both of whom were natives of 
the State of Georgia. George W. Hall, who is now deceased, was a Baptist 
minister. His widow resides in Miami. 

W. W. Hall attended Union high school at Melrose, Florida, and 
graduated from Peabody College for Teachers, at Nashville, Tennessee, in 
1896. Later he attended the National NoiTnal University at Lebanon, Ohio, 
and Valpariso University, Valpariso, Indiana, where he took special 
courses. He taught school from the time he left college in 1896 until 1911. 
He was the principal of the Miami public schools 1902-1906; superin- 
tendent of the city schools of Florence, Alabama, 1906-1907 ; president of 
the Southwest Alabama State Agricultural School, Evergreen, Alabama, 
1907-1908; vice-president and dean of Coker College for Women, Haiis- 
ville. South Carolina, 1908-1909 ; principal DeLand High School, DeLand, 
Florida, 1909-1911. Returning to Miami, he was engaged in the mercan- 
tile business for two or three years as an associate of J. F. Chaille in the 
conduct of Chaille's Department Store. He then established the Hall- 
Wright Company, wholesale dealers in drugs, paper and candy, having as 
an associate in this enteiTJrise Roy C. Wright, to whom he sold his interests 
in 1917. During our participation in the Great War, Mr. Hall entered the 
service of the Y. M. C. A., serving first as a field secretary and later as 
executive secretary, in which latter capacity he had charge of all camp 
activities at Camp Johnson, Jacksonville, Florida, until the demobilization 
of the camp in June, 1919. Returning to Miami, Mr. Hall purchased the 
Florida East Coast Hospital, Third street and Boulevard, and established 
the Baldwin-Hall School, a private boarding and day school, in which insti- 
tution he is still an active factor. In January, 1920, he entered the real 

145 



estate brokerage field as a partner with C. R. Morgan, under the firm 
style of Hall & Morgan, with offices at 117 Northeast First Street. 

Mr. Hall was married, June 27, 1906, to Ruth R. Rickards, of Balsam, 
North Carolina, and they have four children : Lyman, Ruth Mary, Margaret . 
and Dorothy. The family home is at Allapattah Park. Mr. Hall is a deacon 
of the First Baptist Church of Miami, is a Scottish Rite Mason and mem- 
ber of the Shriner's Club. He is also an active member of the Miami 
Chamber of Commerce and the Miami Realty Board, and is widely recog- 
nized as a progressive and public-spirited citizen whose constructive ability 
is a tangible force in the community. 

JUDGE HENRV FUETOX ATKINSON 

Judge Henry Fulton Atkinson, of Miami, is numbered among the 
most able and brilliant representatives of the Florida bar. A man of 
keen and incisive intellectual powers, strengthened and supplemented by 
legal ability of a high order, he has, for many years, been recognized 
as one of the leaders of the bar of Dade County, while as a pioneer citizen 
of Miami his devotion to the public welfare has been a notable contri- 
bution to the general progress. 

Judge Atkinson has been in active practice at various points on 
the eastern coast of Florida since 1889, coming to Miami in January, 
1897. From the early epoch of the city's history he has been identified 
in an important capacity with the great development of the community. 
He was born in Savannah, Georgia, November 2, 1861, and is a son of 
Henry and Mary Caroline (Phelps) Atkinson. On the paternal side he 
is of English, Scotch and Irish descent, while his mother was of English 
extraction. The father was born in Novia Scotia and in the early forties 
removed to Savannah, Georgia, where he followed the profession of civil 
engineering. At the outbreak of the Civil War he joined the Savannah 
Artillery and volunteered for duty at the front, but by reason of his 
skill and special knowledge was detailed to the arsenal at Macon, Georgia, 
where he engaged in the manufacture of shot and shell for the Confed- 
erate forces. During the war his family resided at Macon but after the 
close of hostilities they moved to Dawson where the father formed a 
partnership with 0. 0. Nelson in the manufacture of railway freight 
cars and agricultural machinery. They formed the Dawson Car Manu- 
facturing Company and built up an extensive and profitable business, 
erecting and operating the first cotton seed mill at Montgomery. Henry 
Atkinson continued in this business connection until his death, which 
occurred at Dawson in 1877. He had long survived his wife, who died 
at Savannah, Georgia, when the subject of this review was only thirteen 
months old. 

Judge Heniy Fulton Atkinson was reared in Georgia and acquired 
his early education in a private school in that State, later attending the 

146 




JUDGE H. F. ATKINSON 



University of Georgia at Athens. On account of impaired health he was 
obliged to come to Florida in 1881 and has ever since been a resident of 
the eastern coast. He first located near Titusville, on the Indian River, 
and there purchased an orange grove, to the cultivation of which he gave 
his undivided attention for six years. In January, 1887, he moved into 
the town, began the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1889. 
He has since been engaged in the active practice of his profession in this 
section of the State, first at Titusville and then at Miami, whither he 
came in January, 1897. He has been connected through practice with 
much of the important litigation held in the Florida courts. Soon after 
his arrival in Miami he was retained by Mrs. Julia D. Tuttle, the founder 
of the city, and remained her attorney and confidential adviser up to the 
time of her death. He was formerly a member of the firm of Atkinson 
& Burdine, which was dissolved March 1, 1921. His present professional 
association is as senior member of the firm of Atkinson, Evans & Mershon. 
Judge Atkinson's ability and legal prominence have carried him forward 
in the course of years into important relations with professional and 
judicial life. As city attorney he drew the present city charter of Miami. 
In 1909 he was appointed judge of the criminal court of record and was 
elected to this oflRce in 1912 for a term of four years. He made an enviable 
record on the criminal bench, his service being distinguished by that broad 
hum'anitarianism which is an important element in his personal character. 
Fraternally Judge Atkinson is connected with the Benevolent Pro- 
tective Order of Elks and along professional lines is a member of the 
Dade County Bar Association. He has always been active in public life 
and while a resident of Brevard County represented his district in the 
State Assembly. He is widely recognized as an able and painstaking 
lawyer and a citizen of exalted ideals whose record in all relations of life 
is beyond question and above reproach. 

I.ILBURN R. RAILEY 

Lilburn Rogers Railey, Miami attorney, practicing at the bar of Dade 
County, is a native of Liberty, now Bedford City, Virginia, where he was 
born April 4, 1882. He is the son of Rev. Dr. Fleming G. and Sallie Good- 
low (Barclay) Railey, both of whom were natives of Virginia, the former 
born at Charlottesville and the latter a native of Lexinglon. Rev. Dr. 
Fleming G. Railey, a Presbyterian minister, served as a Confedei'ate soldier 
during the Civil War, and during the war with Spain was captain of Com- 
pany G, Third Kentucky Regiment. The family removed to Bloomfield, 
Kentucky, and later to Glasgow, where the father held an important pas- 
torate. In 1900 he removed to Kissimmee, Floinda, and from there he 
removed to Selma, Alabama. 

Lilburn R. Railey attended the public schools in Bloomfield and Glas- 
gow, Kentucky. In 1903 he located in Miami and here began his inde- 

147 



pendent career. He was employed as a mercantile clerk for two years and 
in 1905 he founded the Acme Bottling Works, to which he gave his atten- 
tion until Januaiy, 1909. In the meantime he had begun the study of law 
under the dii'ection of the Chicago Correspondence School and after grad- 
uating June 30, 1909, was admitted to the bar, receiving the right to prac- 
tice before the Florida courts October 28 of the same year. Since that time 
he has been engaged in general practice in Miami. In 1911 he formed a 
professional association with Mitchell D. Price, which continued until 
January, 1913, since which time he has been in independent practice. He 
served as attorney for the Board of Commissioners of Dade County for 
a period of 12 years. 

Mr. Railey was married April 4, 1910, to Tillie Wiggington, a native 
of Bloomfield, Kentucky. He is a member of the Dade County, the Florida 
State and American Bar Associations and fraternally is a member of the 
Masonic order and Knights of Pythias, of which he has served as past 
chancellor and past grand representative. In January, 1921, Mr. Railey 
was elected a member of the charter board of the City of Miami, chosen to 
draft a new charter for the city based on the commission management 
form of city government. His religious views are in accord with the doc- 
trines of the Presbyterian church, in which he has sei*ved as deacon. He 
is recognized as a strong and able lawyer and a progressive citizen inter- 
ested in the municipal growth and general development of Miami. 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HODSDON, M. D. 

Dr. Benjamin Franklin Hodsdon, well known specialist in diseases of 
the eye, nose and throat, has practiced his profession in Miami since 1911. 
He was born in Berwick, Maine, December 29, 1870, the only child of Na- 
thaniel A. and Eliza (Butler) Hodsdon. On the paternal side Dr. Hodsdon 
is of English ancestry and of old New England stock, members of the 
family having resided in Maine for many generations. His mother was 
born in Yarmouth, Novia Scotia, and was also of English extraction. Both 
parents have passed away. 

Dr. Hodsdon was reared in Berwick, Maine, and acquired his education 
in the public schools. After completing the regular course he went to 
Dover, New Hampshire, where he taught school for a few years, later enter- 
ing the medical department of Bowdoin College, from which he received his 
degree of M. D. in 1897. He engaged in the general practice of medicine in 
Manchester for eight years and while there was appointed assistant surgeon 
in Elliot and Notre Dame Hospitals in that city. During this period he also 
entered the New York Post-Gi-aduate School, from which he was graduated 
in 1900, and attended the New York Polyclinic in 1902 and afterward, 
having determined to specialize in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, 
he took up this special field, graduating in 1904 from the Chicago Eye, Ear, 
Nose and Throat College, later serving as house physician in the hospital 

148 



connected with that institution. Being desirous of broadening his experi- 
ence, he entered the IIHnois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary, where he 
was appointed by competitive examination as house surgeon in 1907. He 
afterward graduated from the medical department of the University of 
Illinois, took courses in the Chicago and New Orleans Polyclinics. He was 
assistant surgeon of the Illinois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary and was 
assistant for one year to Dr. Wilder of Rush Medical College and continued 
active practice as a specialist in Chicago for five years. He came to Miami 
in March, 1911, where he is established as a very able and successful 
practitioner, splendidly educated and specially equipped for his chosen 
field. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the Florida 
State and Dade County Medical Societies, as well as the Southern Medical 
Association and the New Hampshire and the Vermont State Medical 
Societies. 

Dr. Hodsdon married, October 13, 1908, Lucile Kaufman, of Chicago, 
and they have one daughter, Edith Lucile. Fraternally Dr. Hodson is 
connected with the Masonic order and the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows, and his religious views are in accord with the doctrines of the Baptist 
church. He has made an excellent professional record, as is indicated by 
the practice accorded him, and he is, moreover, a progressive and public- 
spirited citizen. 

MANNING S. BURBANK 

Manning S. Burbank has been actively and prominently identified with 
the citrus fruit industry in south Florida for many years and his ability 
and able service have been influential factors In the material advancement 
of this great industry and other important business and corporate interests 
with which he is connected. As one of the organizers of the Florida Citrus 
Exchange he has been intimately associated with the growth and develop- 
ment of the citrus industry and is today recognized as an authority on 
horticultural cultivation. 

Mr. Burbank was born near San Francisco, California, July 29, 1873, 
and is a son of Dr. Charles H. and Abbie L. (Sise) Burbank. He comes 
from New England stock, his father being a native of Portland, Maine, and 
his mother having been born at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Dr. Charles 
H. Burbank was a surgeon in the United States Navy, stationed at the 
United States Navy Yard at Mare Island, San Francisco, at the time of 
the birth of his son. Both pai'ents are now deceased. Manning S. Burbank 
was educated in New England. On leaving school, he spent two years on 
a tour around the world, visiting principally New Zealand, Samoan and 
Sandwich Islands and spending some time in the State of California. As 
a young man he went to Boston and was there connected with the leather 
business from 1892 to 1898. In the latter year he came to Miami, and since 
that time he has been identified with the citrus industry in this State. The 
freeze of 1894-5 attracted him to the possibilities of southern Florida. 

149 



Here he bought land three and one-half miles west of Miami and set out 
one of the first large grape fruit groves in Dade County and installed the 
first large irrigating plant in the county. Since then he has been identified 
in some way with the citrus industry. He was one of the sixteen charter 
members and one of the organizers of the Florida Citrus Exchange and was 
a member of their first board of directors. He also organized the Dade 
County Citrus Sub Exchange and has been an enthusiastic worker for the 
best interests of the grower. Though he has disposed of his large grove, 
he maintains an active interest in citrus cultivation and is the owner of a 
small grove. Mr. Burbank also has other important business and corporate 
interests. He has always been interested in the development of the Ever- 
glades and is one of a company that built three short connecting canals 
into the 'glades. He is the principal factor in Burbank & Company, an 
investment company engaged in the building and selling of residential 
properties, and is president, treasurer and manager of the Coconut Grove 
Utility Company, controlling the water works and telephone franchises of 
Coconut Grove. For eighteen years he has been treasurer of the Biscayne 
Bay Yacht Club, one of the oldest yacht clubs on the Atlantic coast, and he 
is also a director of the Bankers Mortgage Loan Company of Miami. 

Mr. Burbank married June 15, 1907, Josephine M. Baxter, of Medford, 
Massachusetts, and they have two children : Charles and Janet. A man of 
varied and important interests, Mr. Burbank has been a co-operant and 
helpful factor in the upbuilding of Miami and Dade County. Of broad 
intelligence and general culture, he is a business man of the higher type, 
considerate of the interests of others and influenced at all times by the 
thought of the broader effect which his work has upon the general good. 

H. H. HYMAX 

H. H. Hyman, manager of the Miami Electric Light and Power Com- 
pany, the Miami Water Company, and the West Palm Beach Water Com- 
pany, and one of the progressive young business men of Miami, is a native 
of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, born June 4, 1886, son of Max and Rika Hyman. He 
received his primary education in the public schools of his native city and 
his collegiate training at the University of Michigan, from which institu- 
tion he graduated in 1908 in civil engineering, with the degree of Bachelor 
of Science. Immediately after graduation he took up electrical and railroad 
work with the Michigan Central Railroad and later with the Chicago & 
Northwestern Railroad. In 1910 he came to Florida with the Florida East 
Coast Railroad Company as assistant bridge engineer of the Key West ex- 
tension, being located at Marathon, Florida. In 1916 he came to Miami as 
assistant manager of the Miami Electric Light and Power Company, the 
Miami Water Company and the West Palm Beach Water Company, and one 
year later was made manager of these important public utility properties of 
the Flagler estate. 

150 



Mr. Hyman is an associate member of the American Society of Civil 
Engineers, and a member of the American Public Health Association. He is 
also a member of the American Water Works Association and the National 
Electric Light Association. As a member of the Miami Chamber of Com- 
merce, he is a co-operant factor in the commercial life of the city. Fra- 
ternally, he is a Shriner and a member of the Elks. His club memberships 
include Miami Rotary Club, Miami Ad Club, Miami Motor Club and 
Bimini Bay Rod and Gun Club. He is a man of excellent special training, 
broad views and modern ideas and has demonstrated his ability in the 
conduct of the important corporate enterprises under his direction. 

TH(3MAS O. WILSON 

Thomas 0. Wilson, president of the Realty Securities Corporation and 
president of the Woodlawn Park Cemetery Company, Incorporated, is one 
of Miami's substantial and progressive citizens whose enterprise has influ- 
enced the growth, improvement and adornment of the city and whose ideals 
as a citizen has strengthened the forces making for civic betterment. 

Mr. Wilson was born in Mason, Effingham County, Illinois, February 
27, 1872, and he is a son of Thomas Brooks and Lydia (Hinkle) Wilson, the 
former a native of the State of Ohio and the latter born in the State of 
North Carolina. The paternal great grandfather of the subject of this 
sketch was born in Roanoke, Virginia, and removed fiom that State to 
Ohio. Thomas Brooks Wilson, the father of the subject, left his Ohio home 
when ten years of age, accompanying his parents to the State of Illinois, 
where he eventually became a successful farmer. He and his wife now 
reside in the city of Chicago. Thomas 0. Wilson was reared on the parental 
farm and educated in the public schools of his native community. Leaving 
the farm as a young man, he was engaged for a period of 15 years as a 
traveling salesman for a Chicago firm, traveling the states of Illinois and 
Michigan. Later he was engaged in a similar position for a Philadelphia 
firm and in this capacity fii'st visited Florida. Favorably impressed with 
the opportunities offered in south Florida, he located in Miami in 1911, 
and one year later, in 1912, he organized the Woodlawn Park Cemetery 
Company. All the stockholders of this enterprise were Miami citizens, 
who encouraged and made possible the successful promotion of the project. 
This company controls a beautiful property consisting of 80 acres, 25 acres 
of which are developed, lying four miles due west of Miami on the Ta- 
miami trail. In 1913 Mr. Wilson organized the Realty Securities Corpora- 
tion, which specializes in attractive sub-divisions and the buying and selling 
of high-grade business properties. This corporation is a large holder of 
business properties and Everglades lands and Mr. Wilson is the individual 
owner of much valuable realty, including holdings at La Grange, Illinois, 
where he resided when traveling out of Chicago. In 1916 Mr. Wilson was 
one of the organizers of the Myrtle Hill Cemetery Company, of Tampa, 

151 



Florida, controlling one of the finest cemeteries in the state. He is vice- 
president of this corporation, as well as a director and large stockholder. 

Mr. Wilson married October 30, 1901, Emma Lee Roberts, who was 
born in Illinois, a daughter of Gaines Roberts, a native of Kentucky. They 
are the parents of three children : Gaines Roberts Wilson, Peyton L. Wilson 
and Thomas Burton Wilson. He is now constructing a magnificent home 
in Broadmoor, facing the bay. The old Colonial style of architecture makes 
it one of the attractive homes on the bay front. Mr. Wilson is a member of 
the First Christian Church of Miami, of which he is an elder. He is a 
director of the Miami Y. M. C. A. and an active member of the Miami 
Chamber of Commerce and the Miami Realty Board. He is also a member 
of the Miami Motor Club and vitally interested in the good roads movement. 
He is interested in all that pertains to the material, intellectual and moral 
progress of the community and his influence is always on the side of 
reform, advancement and improvement. 

JOHN SEYBOLU 

Among those pioneer business men upon whose shoulders fell the 
burden of making possible the phenomenal progress resulting from the 
development and industrial evolution of this section during the past quarter 
century is John Seybold, who has been a central figure in general business 
circles of the city for many years. He was one of the first business men 
of the city and his success has kept pace with the city's march of progress. 
The story of Miami's wonderful development is no more remarkable than 
the story of Mr. Seybold's rise from lowly beginnings to a position of 
prominence and affluence. His rise has been steady and consistent and his 
success worthily attained. By hard work and ability and the faculty for 
recognizing existing opportunities he has developed a great enterprise 
which is a valuable addition to the general resources of the city and won 
for himself a secure place among the substantial men of the community. 

John Seybold was bom in Stuttgart, Wurttemburg, Germany, Septem- 
ber 14, 1872, and is a son of Bernhard and Fredericka Seybold, both of 
whom were also natives of Gemiany and both now deceased. He acquired a 
public school education in his native land and when sixteen years of age 
ran away from home, his parents objecting to his departure. He was de- 
termined to leave Germany, however, and one night made his way into 
France. He then went to Belgium and from there traveled to England, 
but soon afterward returned to Belgium and from that country shipped to 
America. Landing in New York city, he was undecided as to his future 
course. He saw a man buy a ticket to Baltimore and this influenced him 
to go to that city, where he found work as a farm hand. He had worked 
as a farm hand but three days when another man thought he would be a 
better baker than a farmer and offered him a job in a bakery. He worked 
as an apprentice baker for this man for six months. He then went to 

152 




JOHN SEYBOLD 



Washington, D. C, where he was given charge of a bakery. Working in 
the hot bake shops he contracted rheumatism and a physician advised him 
to come south. In 1891 he came to Florida and for about one year was 
employed as a journeyman baker at St. Augustine and later at Palatka. 
In 1894 he removed to West Palm Beach, where he started a bakery, which 
one year later was destroyed by the big fire there. He started there again, 
but when the railroad was completed to Miami and the town founded he 
decided to come here. He arrived in Miami April 28, 1896, just two weeks 
after the first train came in. As he found two other bakeries here, he 
decided to turn his attention to some other line. He started a restaurant 
on the west side of Avenue D, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets, 
which he operated until a few days before Christmas of 1896, when he 
sold it, taking in payment a note. On Christmas day, 1896, while Mr. Sey- 
bold was on a hunting trip, fire destroyed the lunch room along with most 
of the business section of Miami. All of Mr. Seybold's personal property 
was destroyed and the purchaser of his lunch room was unable to pay his 
note. Mr. Seybold found himself with nothing in the world but the rough 
hunting clothes upon his back. He went to West Palm Beach and there 
had charge of a bakery for a few months. In 1898, during the Spanish- 
American war, he went to Jacksonville and there established a bakery in 
one of the camps. In 1889 he returned to Miami and worked for awhile 
for Miller & Tucker at Twelfth and Avenue G. After they burned out, 
Mr. Seybold bought a small bakery on the site of his present business and 
from that time his business rapidly expanded. Today his establishment is 
one of the most important of its kind in Florida. His retail store on 
Flagler street was built by Mr. Seybold in 1914. This is a modern three- 
story concrete structure, with apartments above, and is one of the sub- 
stantial business blocks of the city. In 1919 Mr. Seybold built his present 
large bakery at 211 Second street. This is undoubtedly one of the model 
baking plants of the country. The structure is one hundred and ninety 
feet by one hundred and twenty-five feet. The equipment includes the 
most modern appliances and the latest automatic machinery. Oil burners 
are used exclusively, and the products of his bakery are produced under 
approved sanitary conditions, nothing being left undone which makes for 
high quality and purity. Twelve motor wagons are required to supply his 
trade, which extends beyond the confines of Miami, where Seybold's bread 
is a household world. 

In addition to his interests in the Seybold Baking Company, Incorpo- 
rated, of which he is president, Mr. Seybold has other important corporate 
and business connections. He is president of the Central Properties, 
Incorporated, and president of the Spring Garden Realty Company, Incor- 
porated. He is also a director of the First National Bank of Miami and is 
one of the largest individual land holders in the city. 

Mr. Seybold married, July 1, 1902, Helen Freedlund, of Boynton, 

153 



Florida, and they have three children : William, Helen, and Constance. 
Fraternally Mr. Seybold belongs to the Masons and the Elks. In the course 
of his long residence here he has always been found in the ranks of ener- 
getic and progressive citizens and he stands today as one of the honored 
pioneer residents of the community. 

WALTER C. DeGARJMO 

Walter C. DeGarmo, architect, is a native of the State of Illinois, born 
at Normal, that State, September 7, 1876. He is a son of Charles and Ida 
(Whitbeck) DeGarmo, the former a native of the State of Wisconsin and 
the latter born in Illinois, who removed to Florida about six years ago and 
now reside at Coconut Grove. 

Mr. DeGarmo received his primary education in the schools of his 
native State and in the schools of Europe, where he spent several years. 
In 1893 he entered Swathmore College, from which institution he was 
graduated in 1897 with the degi'ee of Bachelor of Arts in Civil Engineering. 
He then entered Cornell University and in 1900 graduated therefrom with 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Architecture. He immediately took up 
professional work as an architect and was for several years connected with 
prominent offices in Philadelphia, New York City, Washington and Cleve- 
land. In 1904 he came to Miami, and he has been in continuous practice 
here since that date. The Miami City Hall, the Miami Central School 
building, the Daytona High School building, and the Congregational 
Church, Miami Beach, are among the more prominent public buildings of 
his planning. He is also the designer of the residence of B. F. Tobin, 
Miami, the L. M. Rumsey residence on Belle Island, the Luden residence at 
Point View, Miami, the C. J. Fowler home on Star Island, and the residence 
of H. E. Talbott, Miami Beach, as well as many other notable houses. Mr. 
DeGarmo is a member of the American Institute of Architects and the 
Florida State Association of Architects. A man of comprehensive general 
knowledge and e.xcellent professional training, he has achieved a substan- 
tial success in his chosen field. His interests are thoroughly identified with 
those of Miami, and his aid and co-operation may be readily enlisted for 
any movement calculated to promote municipal growth or to advance the 
general development. 

Mr. DeGarmo was married March 1, 1905, to Mary C. Cunnington, of 
Philadelphia, and they have three children: Doris, Mabel and Kenneth. 
The family home is at Coconut Grove, and Mr. DeGarmo maintains offices 
in the Fidelity Bank building, Miami. 

H. H. FILER 

H. H. Filer, president of the Filer-Cleveland Company, Incorporated, 
mortgage loans, is known as one of the most conspicuously successful men 
in Miami. He has been a prominent figure in the business, political and 

154 



educational life of Dade County, his activities touching and influencing the 
general advancement and devolpment along many lines. He is widely rec- 
ognized as a capable executive and organizer, his enterprise and ability 
having been factors in some of the most important commercial and financial 
concerns in the city and his business discrimination and foresight elements 
in their continued success. Mr. Filer is a native Floridian, born at Key 
West, December 31, 1890, and he is a son of William A. and Lotta E. 
(Cleare) Filer. William A. Filer, who was also a native of Key West, is 
remembered as one of the real builders of Miami. He was one of the 
organizers of Dade County and his work affected the foundation of the 
community and influenced the direction of its development. He was instru- 
mental in bringing the railroad to Miami and in numerous ways manifested 
his public spirit. He served as treasurer of the county, and during his 
long residence here was one of the city's most loyal and aggressive citizens. 
He died September, 1912, leaving the impress of his work and individuality 
upon community history. His widow continues to reside in Miami. 

H. H. Filer acquired his education in the public schools of Miami. When 
21 years of age he was elected treasurer of Dade County, winning the nomi- 
nation against a field of seven men. At the expiration of his first term he 
was re-elected, serving in all four years, covering the years from 1913 to 
1916. In his official capacity he made a creditable and enviable record for 
systematic, straight-forward and efficient work in public service. At the 
end of his official tenure he became cashier of the Southern Bank and Trust 
Company and as an executive officer of that financial institution estab- 
lished a reputation as a far-sighted, resourceful business man. He re- 
signed his connection with the bank in August, 1920, to form the Filer- 
Cleveland Company, a corporation dealing in mortgage loans, an organiza- 
tion of high standing in the community. Mr. Filer is also identified with 
other business interests in the ownership of three automobile tire establish- 
ments, two being conducted in Miami and one at Palm Beach. 

Mr. Filer married, March 5, 1911, Bertha A. Lanier, of Gainesville, 
Florida, and they have two children : Mary and Elizabeth. He is chair- 
man of the Miami School Board and in this connection is rendering a public 
service indisputably valuable. Essentially progressive and public-spirited, 
no movement for the betterment of the community lacks his cooperation 
and support and his influence is on the side of right, reform and progress 
in business and public life. 

JOSEPH PEARSON GREAVES 

Joseph Pearson Greaves, manager of the magnificent Royal Palm 
Hotel,, Miami, is one of the best known and one of the most successful 
hotel managers in Florida. Practically all of his active life has been spent 
in the hotel business and the results of his experience, knowledge and 
ability are seen in the management of the great enterprise, the destinies of 
which he directs. Mr. Greaves was born in Brooklyn, New York, and he 

155 



is a son of Rev. Frederick and Celia Amanda (Storm) Greaves, the 
former a native of England and the latter born in New York City of Hol- 
land descent. He is a representative of one of the oldest families in Eng- 
land and vfSLS named in honor of his paternal great grandfather, Sir 
Richard Pearson, who commanded the British man-of-war Serapis in the 
famous naval battle against Paul Jones in the Revolutionary War. 

Joseph P. Greaves was eight years of age when his parents removed 
West and four years later returned with them to New York. He acquired 
an excellent public school education and, moreover, had the advantage in 
his youth of his parents' learning and culture. He began his business 
career as a clerk in a broker's office on Wall Street, and afterward engaged 
for several years as a traveling salesman for a New York house. He then 
became associated with the Manhattan Beach Hotel Company of Long 
Island, controlling the Manhattan Beach and the Oriental Hotels, and thus 
gained his first experience in a line of business in which he has since won 
distinction. After two years he was made general auditor of the company. 
In 1892 he became associated with Henry M. Flagler and his great chain of 
hotels throughout the South. In 1895 he was made manager of the Alcazar 
Hotel in St. Augustine, where he remained for a period of thirteen years, 
since which time he has been the manager of the Royal Palm Hotel in 
Miami, one of the finest resort hotels in the country. Mr. Greaves has 
done much to make the Royal Palm a popular resort among a high-class 
clientele. He understands every phase of the hotel business and directs 
the institution in accordance with the most modern methods of hotel 
operation. 

J. E. JUNKIN, SR. 

The progress and growth of any community are the direct result of 
the combined efforts of many men, yet in every city there are certain 
individuals who by the force of their ability, energy and initiative spirit 
stand out as forces in development. Among the men of marked ability and 
substantial worth whose successful work has aided in the material and 
moral advancement of Miami is J. E. Junkin, Sr., president of the Junkin- 
Erdmans Company, real estate brokers, and senior member of the firm of 
Junkin & Avant, mortgage loans and insurance. 

Mr. Junkin is a native of the State of Pennsylvania, born March 6, 
1860, and he is a son of Hiram W. and Mary S. (Evans) Junkin, now de- 
ceased, both of whom were also natives of the Keystone State. He re- 
ceived a public school and academy education and as a boy learned the 
printer's trade, which he followed for a number of years, working as a 
journeyman printer in the cities of New York, Philadelphia and Washing- 
ton, one year being spent at the old government printing office in the latter 
city. In 1886 he removed to the State of Kansas and there established 
the Chase Record, at Chase, Kansas, which he successfully conducted. 
Later he established the Daily and Weekly Bulletin at Sterling, Kansas, 

156 



one of the successful newspapers of the State. During his editorial career 
he became an influential factor in molding public opinion. For a period of 
ten years he was secretary of the State Editorial Association of Kansas 
and president of the association for one year. In 1907 he was president of 
the National Editorial Association which convened at Norfolk, Virginia, 
during the Jamestown Exposition. Mr. Junkin has always taken an active 
and intelligent interest in educational affairs and while a citizen of Kansas 
was a member* of the State Board of Regents, as well as a member of the 
local school board. Disposing of his interests in Kansas on account of the 
ill health of his wife, he located in Miami, and here he quickly became 
recognized as a progressive and public-spirited citizen of high ability. 
During the great World War he rendered valuable sei^vice as secretary of 
the Y. M. C. A. in association war service. He was prominent in all local 
war activities and gave up all other work to devote his time to the various 
war needs. 

Mr. Junkin was married January 13, 1886, to Susie Blair Benn, of 
Philadelphia, and they have three sons: J. E. Junkin, Jr., president of the 
Miami Cadillac Motor Company ; Lieutenant Commander George B. Junkin, 
of the United States Navy, and James W. Junkin, who is associated with 
his father in the real estate business. Mr. Junkin is vice-president of the 
Miami Y. M. C. A. and superintendent of the White Temple Sunday School. 
A man of constructive intelligence, modern views and aggressive action, 
his work in the city has been a force in public growth and an element in 
municipal development. 

FREDERIC H. RAND, JR. 

Frederic H. Rand, Jr., one of the most notable members of the Dade 
County bar and principal of the Rand Properties, Incorporated, owners of 
important property interests in the city of Miami, is a native son of 
Florida, born in Orange County, May 22, 1884. He is a son of Colonel 
Frederic H. Rand, Sr., a prominent citizen of Orange County, Florida, 
who served as colonel of a Massachusetts cavalry regiment during the 
Civil War and sometime afterward came to Florida, locating in 1875 in 
Orange County, where he has since been a prominent and influential citi- 
zen. Colonel Rand was one of the original builders of the South Florida 
Railroad from Jacksonville to Tampa. This was later known as the Plant 
System and is now the Atlantic Coast Line. 

Frederic H. Rand, Jr., was reared in Orange County and acquired his 
preliminary education in the public schools. He supplemented this with a 
course at the University of the South, at Sewanee, Tennessee, and after- 
ward entered the law offices of Beggs & Palmer at Orlando, Florida. He 
studied law there for two years and was admitted to the bar in 1905, on 
his twenty-first birthday. He immediately afterward opened an office in 
Miami and here has since remained, his success and prominence being 

157 



today unquestioned. A man of energy, initiative and resource, he has 
forged rapidly to the front in his profession and is recognized as a strong, 
able and forceful lawyer whose thorough understanding of underlying legal 
principles is supplemented by the ability and force of personality which 
makes his knowledge effective. He controls an extensive and representative 
patronage coimecting him with much of the important litigation held in 
the courts of the State. Aside from the law Mr. Rand is identified with 
e.xtensive property interests in Miami, being the principal factor in the 
Rand Properties, Incorporated, controlling large and important improved 
real estate holdings. Their properties include a number of the largest and 
most valuable business blocks in the city, among them being the Columbia 
Building, having a frontage of an entire block on Avenue C, completed in 
1920; also the Republic Building opposite the post office, built in 1919; the 
Empire Building, San Carlos Building and the Valencia Apartments. In 
the promotion of these properties Mr. Rand has shown the capacity to 
carry to successful conclusion large and important undertakings, and he is 
recognized today as a far-sighted, discriminating business man who has 
achieved a substantial success through his individual enterprise and in- 
herent ability. 

Mr. Rand married, Februaiy 23, 1910, Maiy McDonald, of Chicago, 
and has one daughter, Ruth Catherine, now aged nine. Mr. Rand is a 
member of the Seminole Club of Jacksonville, Dunwoodie Club of New 
York, Edgewater Golf Club of Chicago, New York Athletic Club and the 
Masonic Order. 

J. R. TATUM 

Among the elements in the progress of Miami and in her continued 
business expansion and development is the growth of real estate activity, 
and among the men who are factors in the advancement of the community 
are those who possess a clear conception of both the difficulties and possi- 
bilities for the development and improvement of the locality through the 
medium of real estate transactions. J. R. Tatum, president of Tatum 
Brothers Company, Incorporated, and a principal in numerous subsidiary 
corporations, ranks with the most prominent representatives of real estate 
interests in Miami, as well as one of the most progressive and public- 
spirited citizens of the community. Mr. Tatum is a native of Cummings, 
Georgia, born January 1, 1866, and is a son of Rev. Aaron S. and Jane 
Elizabeth (Johnson) Tatum, the former a native of Raleigh, North Caro- 
lina, and the latter born at Greenville, South Carolina. The father was a 
minister of the Baptist church, who removed to Georgia and later to Flor- 
ida, dying at Orlando, Florida, in 1915. The mother passed away in 1907. 

J. R. Tatum was reared in Cummings, Georgia, until he was eighteen 
years of age, accompanying the family on their removal to Orlando, 
Florida, where they lived for a period of three years. Removing to Bar- 

158 




J. R. TATUM 



tow, Florida, he resided there for five years, and from there went to Tampa, 
Florida, remaining in that city until 1911, in which year he located in 
Miami. Here he became identified with his brothers in extensive real es- 
tate operations, in the promotion and development of which he has been an 
important factor. The Tatum Brothers' interests are controlled by separ- 
ate corporations and include the Miami Land & Development Company, 
Lawrence Estate Land Company, Tatum Land Company, Tatum Ocean 
Park Company, Miami Traction Company, Florida Title Company, Miami 
Abstract Company, Tatum Brothers Real Estate & Investment Company, 
and the Tatum Brothers Company, the latter being the sales organization. 
They own large and important acreage in the Everglades and have been 
among the leading developers of that famous section of Florida. They also 
control ocean beach property having a frontage of seven miles. They are 
the developers of Florida City Winter Gardens, as well as a number of the 
high class subdivisions of Miami, including Riverside Heights, Riverside 
and Grove Park, the latter being their latest development and one of the 
most beautiful and attractive properties of the city. 

Mr. Tatum married, May 22, 1895, Ada May McBride, of Greenfield, 
Missouri, and they have four children : Kay B., J. Ralph, Conoley and Ada 
May. Fraternally, he is member of the Elks, Knights of Pythias and the 
Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Miami Motor Club and the Anglers' 
Club, as well as an active member of the Miami Chamber of Commerce. A 
man of broad and comprehensive interests, aggressive, discriminating and 
far-sighted, he has wrought along constructive lines, and is representative 
of the spirit of enterprise that has led in reclaiming and transforming 
Florida into a rich and fertile field. 

CHARLES :M. fisher 

Charles M. Fisher, Superintendent of Public Instruction of Dade 
County, is a native of Indiana, born near Galveston, Howard County, that 
State, January 8, 1883. He is a son of Harvey A. and Sarah A. (Fix) 
Fisher, both of whom were also natives of the Hoosier State. Harvey A. 
Fisher was a successful farmer and builder, who removed to Alachua 
County, near Gainesville, Florida, in 1888. He died July 21, 1919. Charles 
M. Fisher was reared in Alachua County, Florida, where the family home 
was established when he was but five years old. He received his primary 
education in the Alachua County public schools, and upon the completion 
of that course entered the State University at Gainesville, from which 
institution he was graduated in 1908, with the degree of bachelor of 
science. He then went to the Philippine Islands and was engaged in the 
government service as a member of the Philippine Constabulary from 
1909 to 1912. Returning, he re-entered the State University for post- 
graduate work during 1912 and 1913. During the school term beginning 
in the fall of 1913 he was science instructor at the St. Petersburg, Florida, 

159 



High School, and the following year held a like position with the Monroe 
County, Florida, High School. In 1915 he came to Homestead, Florida, as 
principal of schools, and served in that capacity until June 1, 1920, re- 
signing to enter the primary as a candidate for Superintendent of Public 
Instruction. He was successful in the primary and in the ensuing election, 
and took office January 5, 1921. Mr. Fisher's work as a scholar and a 
student has won for him distinctive recognition in the field of education 
and he is recognized as an administrator and executive of marked ability. 

Mr. Fisher was married, June 18, 1913, to Eva Deen, of Gainesville, 
Florida, and they have three children: Geneva Deen, Charles M., Jr., and 
Martin Allan. 

ROBERT B. McLENDON 

Robert B. McLendon, now serving his fourth term as tax collector of 
Dade County, is numbered among the pioneers in Florida, his residence in 
the state dating from 1883. He was boi'n on a plantation in Pike County, 
Georgia, September 11, 1852, and is a son of Robert P. and Missouri Miller 
(Rucker) McLendon, both of whom were also natives of the State of 
Georgia. Mr. McLendon is of Scotch ancestiy and his family is one of the 
oldest in Georgia, his maternal grandmother, Ann Pope, having been born 
in the state in 1800 and having died there in 1895 at the age of 95. Robert 
P. McLendon, father of the subject of this review, was a veteran of the 
Civil War, he and his seven bi'others having served in the arniy of the 
Confederacy. He was a successful farmer. He died January 30, 1875, 
and his widow died in West Palm Beach in 1909 at the age of 82. 

Robert B. McLendon spent his boyhood upon his father's plantation in 
Pike County, and when he was 18 years of age accompanied his parents to 
Clayton County, Georgia. Throughout his early manhood he engaged in 
farming, clerking and merchandising in his native state and removed in 
1874 from Clayton County to Milton County and shortly afterward to Cobb 
County, where he resided until 1883. In that year he removed to Florida, 
locating first in Hillsboro County, where he built the first residence on the 
present site of Plant City, a structure which was subsequently remodeled, 
becoming the old Plant City Hotel. Mr. McLendon served as first agent 
for the Southern Express Company at Plant City in the early days and 
later added to the duties of that position those of postmaster of the com- 
munity, having received his appointment from President Cleveland. In 
1889 he resigned both positions and moved to Tampa, where he entered the 
county clerk's office as deputy. His residence in that city covered a period 
of 12 years, during which time he was active in public afl!'airs, serving as 
deputy clerk of the circuit court and deputy tax assessor. He was also for 
a number of years clerk in an abstract office. In 1900 he took up his resi- 
dence in Miami and here continued his identification with public affairs. He 
was appointed deputy clerk of the circuit court and later became assistant 
tax collector of Dade County. His former experience proved invaluable to 

160 



him in this position and aided him materially in the efficient discharge of 
his other duties. Upon the expiration of his term of office he turned his 
attention to business pursuits and became associated with the Security 
Abstract Company, and prepared the set of abstract books of that com- 
pany. This connection lasted until 1909, when he was elected tax collector 
of Dade County. He has since been re-elected three times and is now serv- 
ing his fourth term, his tenure including three two-year terms and one 
four-year term. He is recognized as a capable, reliable and accommodating 
public official and holds the confidence of the people in a generous measure. 
In June, 1887, Mr. McLendon married, in Texarkana, Arkansas, Mrs. 
Eliza A. (Barnes) Powell, a native of South Carolina. They are the parents 
of four children : Lula B., Katie M., who is the wife of Fay Ansbaugh, of 
Detroit, Michigan ; Annie P. ; and Robert W., of Miami, who married Meta 
Merrick. Mr. McLendon is a member of the Baptist Church. For nearly 
40 years a resident of Florida, he has become widely and favorably known 
and stands high in the regard of all. His official record is above reproach 
and his worth as a man and a citizen is widely recognized. 

A. L. EVANS, D. O. 

Dr. Arthur Llywelyn Evans, doctor of osteopathy, has long held dis- 
tinctive prestige in a calling which requires for its basis sound mentality 
and intellectual discipline of a high order, supplemented by the rigid pro- 
fessional training and thorough mastery of technical knowledge without 
which one cannot hope to rise above mediocrity in ministering to human 
ills. In his chosen field of endeavor Dr. Evans has achieved a notable suc- 
cess and his eminent standing among the leading exponents of the great 
science of osteopathy have been duly recognized and appreciated not only in 
Miami but also throughout the State, as well as in other and broader fields. 

Dr. Evans was born in Rice County, Minnesota, June 15, 1865, and is 
a son of John R. and Clarissa J. (Hulett) Evans, the former a native of 
Wales and the latter born in the State of Indiana, both of whom are now 
deceased. The father was a successful farmer and merchant, who removed 
to the State of Missouri when his son, the subject of this review, was one 
year old. Dr. Evans was reared on the paternal farm near Kirksville, Mis- 
souri, and acquired his education at the State Normal School at Kirksville 
and at the Kirksville Mercantile College. As a young man he taught school 
and later took up the study of law. He was admitted to the bar at Kirks- 
ville and won quick recognition as a lawyer, serving two years as police 
judge of Kirksville and later as assistant prosecuting attorney of Adair 
County. He resigned the latter position and gave up the profession of 
law to take up the study of osteopathy, and in 1897 entered the American 
Scliool of Osteopathy, at Kirksville, Missouri, from which institution he 
was graduated in 1899. He began his professional practice at Chattanooga, 
Tennessee, in February, 1899, and that city continued to be the field of his 

161 



professional labors until 1910, in which year he came to Miami, being the 
first osteopath to locate here permanently He has here achieved a large 
and gratifying success, rising steadily in the confidence and esteem of the 
public and enjoying a lucrative and discriminating patronage. He is ably 
assisted in his professional duties by his sisters, Jane and Nelle Evans, 
both of whom are also graduates of the American School of Osteopathy, 
and both likewise skilled in the essentials of practice. Dr. Evans is an 
eaniest and profound student of the science of osteopathy and has written 
extensively upon professional topics. He was for six years editor of the 
Journal of the American Osteopathic Association and prior to that was one 
of the editors of the Popular Osteopath. For seven years he was editor 
of the Herald of Osteopathy, a private journal which he published and 
he afterward edited the Osteopathic Magazine, published by the Ameri- 
can Osteopathic Association. In 1905 he won the medal for the best essay 
on osteopathy in the contest given by the American Osteopathic Associa- 
tion. Dr. Evans' comprehensive knowledge of the fundamentals of oste- 
opathic practice have been frequently recognized by his professional col- 
leagues. He was president of the American Osteopathic Association for 
one year, during 1905-1906, and for ten years was a member of its board of 
trustees. He served two years as a member of the Tennessee State Board 
of Osteopathic Examiners, and has served as president of the Tennessee 
State Association as well as president of the Florida State Association. He 
represented Florida in the National House of Delegates at the 1920 con- 
vention and was chairman of the committee on resolutions. He is at 
present a member of the board of trustees of the A. T. Still Research 
Institute, Chicago. 

Dr. Evans married, June 7, 1899, Daisy Reid, of Carthage, Missouri, 
and they have four children: Virginia, Philip, Lois, and Daisy. He is 
moderator of the First Universalist Church of Miami and is a member of 
the Miami Rotary Club, serving the latter as a member of the program 
committee. Ranking with the leading professional men of the city, he is, 
moreover, a public-spirited citizen mindful of public interests and has been 
a contributing factor to all movements calculated to promote municipal ex- 
pansion and to advance the community's moral and intellectual status. 

W. H. PEEPLES 

Among the men whose ability, enterprise and initiative spirit, directed 
into business channels, make them influential factors in the commercial 
life of Miami is W. H. Peeples, of the P. Ullendorff" Company. Mr. Peeples 
was born in Camden County, Georgia, January 23, 1869, and he is a son 
of George H. and Julia A. (Cooner) Peeples, both of whom were also 
natives of Camden County, Georgia, and both of whom are now deceased. 
George H. Peeples was an extensive farmer and merchant. 

162 



W. H. Peeples was reared in Camden County, Georgia, and there 
acquired a public school education. When twenty-one years of age he 
engaged in the mercantile business at Kingsland, Georgia, and conducted a 
successful establishment there until 1906, in which year he came to the 
State of Florida, soon afterward removing to Miami. Here he became as- 
sociated with the P. Ullendorff Company as a solicitor, being thus engaged 
for a period of about eighteen months. He then established the Peeples 
Meat Market, on Avenue D, which he operated for about three years with 
gratifying success. In June, 1911, he organized and became an active 
partner in the P. Ullendorff Company, a corporation, of which he became 
secretary and treasurer. Subsequently Mr. Peeples bought all of Mr. 
Ullendorff' s interest and is now the controlling factor of the concern, re- 
taining the corporate name for business reasons. The company is the 
largest institution of its kind in Miami and one of the largest in the State, 
dealing almost exclusively in the highest grade northern and western 
meats and having an equipment second to none. 

Mr. Peeples was married December 18, 1908,. to Grace Byne, of Day- 
tona, Florida, who is a native of the State of Michigan. They have one 
child, Grace Elizabeth, and Mr. Peeples is the father of five children by 
a former marriage. Mr. Peeples is a member of the First Baptist Chuixh 
of Miami, of which he is one of the deacons. During the national drive 
of this church for their five-year budget of $75,000,000 Mr. Peeples was 
organizer for Miami and in such capacity had charge of the raising of 
Miami's quota. The assessed quota for the city was $35,000 and Mr. 
Peeples and the corps of lieutenants under his direction secured during the 
first afternoon the sum of $42,000 and a total of over $50,000 was ultimate- 
ly subscribed. Fraternally Mr. Peeples is a thirty-second degree Mason. He 
is conspicuous among his business associates by reason of his high stan- 
dards of commercial integrity and his straightforward business methods, 
while socially he enjoys the esteem of an extensive circle. 

WILLIAM STANLEY GRAMLIXG, U. 1). 

Dr. William Stanley Gramling, prominent Miami physician and sur- 
geon, was born in Greenville, Alabama, August 2, 1872, a son of Adam 
Clark and Sallie (Stanley) Gramling, both now deceased. The father was 
a veteran of the Civil War, having served as a private and a sharpshooter 
in the Confederate army. 

Dr. Gramling was reared in Greenville and there acquired his prelimi- 
nary education. He aftenvard attended the University of Alabama, from 
the medical department of which he was graduated in 1894. He returned 
immediately to Greenville and opened an office there, where he resided until 
1898, when he came to Miami as one of the city's pioneer physicians, con- 
tinuing his practice here with excellent results, being known today as one 

163 



of the prominent and capable members of the profession in Dade County. 
He has served as local surgeon of the Florida East Coast Railroad and as a 
member of the State board of medical examiners. 

Dr. Gramling married, June 24, 1903, Beatrice Sanders, of Merritt's 
Island, Brevard County, Florida, and they have one son, William Sanders. 
Fraternally Dr. Gramling is connected with the Masonic order, in which 
he is a Knights Templar and a member of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, 
and he is also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He 
belongs to the Dade County Medical Society and the Florida State and the 
Southern States Medical Associations, and through the interchange of 
thought and opinion in these organizations keeps in touch with the progress 
and advancement of his profession. He never considers his medical studies 
complete but is continually carrying forward his investigations and re- 
search work and in addition to this has taken two post-graduate courses 
in the New York Post-Graduate School. His life has been actuated at all 
times by high and honorable principles, manifest in his professional labors 
and in his private life. 

ISIDOR COHEN 

As one of that historic group of pioneers whose settlement here ante- 
dates the coming of the railroad and parallels the foundation of the com- 
munity, Isidor Cohen stands as a singularly admirable type of the pro- 
gressive and loyal citizen whose identification with community affairs in 
the early days of the pioneer epoch, as well as throughout the later years 
of its great development, has been closely allied with the city's best inter- 
ests and upbuilding. Mr. Cohen came to Miami in February, 1896, three 
months ahead of the first train, and here established one of the first mer- 
cantile establishments of the city. He has always taken an active part in 
public affairs and has been one of the city's wisest counselors and hardest 
workers. He has been one of the leading spirits in various civic organiza- 
tions, his activities touching many important phases of community life 
and influencing especially the moral and intellectual status. 

Isidor Cohen was born in Russia June 1, 1870, his parents being Laz- 
arus and Pearl (Gettel) Cohen. The family came to America in 1883, and 
Mr. Cohen learned to speak English and acquired his education in the 
public schools of New York city. In 1891 he removed to Savannah, 
Georgia, where he was engaged as a mercantile clerk for two years. In 
1894 he removed to Fort Pierce, Indian River, Florida, and there estab- 
lished a small business. The disastrous freeze of 189.5 interrupted his 
progress there and he removed to West Palm Beach, where he waited on 
the coming of the East Coast Railway into the Biscayne Bay country. His 
business judgment enabled him to foresee the rise of Miami and in Febru- 
ary, 1896, he located here, three months ahead of the first train. Here he 
established a mercantile house and became one of the pioneer merchants of 
the city, building up a substantial and profitable business. After 1.5 years 

164 




ISIDOR COHEN 



of mercantile life he retired from that line and has since devoted his ener- 
gies to various business activities. Miami has had no more zealous or 
indefatigable promoter than Mr. Cohen and his influence has always been 
on the side of progress and civic improvement. He has rendered com- 
mendable service to the city in various ways and did much to promote the 
general development. From 1902 to 1906 he was president of the Mer- 
chants' Association, one of the first civic organizations of the city. He 
served as treasurer and trustee of the Miami Board of Trade in 1906 and 
1907, also secretary in 1908-11 and president 1912. He was president of the 
Dade County Fair Association in 1908 and was a member of the Dade 
County Civic Association and member State Executive Committee 1910. He 
is now an active member of the Miami Chamber of Commerce and the 
Miami Realty Board and an influential factor in both. In January, 1921, 
Mr. Cohen was elected a member of the committee of fifteen chosen by the 
electorate of Miami to prepare a new charter for the city. Mr. Cohen 
took an active and leading part in the campaign for a new charter and his 
influence was a powerful factor in the election. 

Mr. Cohen married, September 1, 1904, Ida Herbert, daughter of 
Morris and Clara Herbert. They have two children, Clara and Edward 
Cohen, and a stepson, Murray. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Ma- 
sonic order and Elks. He is an honorary member of Company L, Second 
Regiment of Infantry of the National Guard of Florida. He is a close stu- 
dent of history, economics, literature and religion. As one of the pioneer 
citizens of Miami he is thoroughly familiar with community history and 
has written interesting reminiscences of the early life of the city. A man 
of great business capacity and of the highest principles of integrity and 
honor, he has made his influence felt along diverse lines, and stands today 
as one of the public-spirited men of affairs who has played a conspicuous 
role in that romantic history which had its setting in the City of Miami. 

EUWARU A. robp:rts 

Edward A. Roberts, principal factor in the Roberts Brothers Depart- 
ment Store, Miami, and one of the progressive business men of the city, 
is a native of England, born at Liverpool, April 4, 1872. He is a son of 
Joseph and Martha (Oldham) Roberts, natives of England, both of whom 
are now deceased. 

Edward A. Roberts was educated in the private schools of England, 
and as a young man was engaged for several years in looking after the 
various property interests of his father. He visited America for the first 
time as a boy, coming with his father. Later, he accepted a position as 
buyer for the mercantile house of H. B. Clafin & Company, of Bufi^alo, and 
afterward held a simflar position with R. H. White, of Boston. He came to 
Miami in 1915, and here succeeded to the business of Pendleton & Harris' 
Department Store, his brother, W. C. Roberts, being associated with him in 

165 



the enterprise. Their store is one of the leading retail concerns of Miami, 
carrying an exclusive line of high-grade merchandise and enjoying a 
representative patronage. A citizen of progressive tendencies and sub- 
stantial worth, Mr. Roberts takes an active part in all movements which 
make for the advancement and development of Miami. He was president 
of the Miami Chamber of Commerce for the fiscal year ending April 1, 
1920, and his executive ability and initiative spirit were serviceable factors 
in the constructive work of that civic body. 

Mr. Roberts was married August 20, 1906, to Beulah Rudd, of Cleve- 
land, Ohio, a niece of John D. Rockefeller. They have one child, Edward 
W. Mr. Roberts is a member of the First Baptist Church of Miami. He is 
a 32nd degree Mason and a member of the Miami Shrine. 

COLONEL EDWIN ALEXANDER WADDELL 

The magic city of Miami presents today a panorama of wonderful 
fascination and insatiable interest. As we contemplate the stupendous 
process of the city's growth there comes a laudable desire to trace the in- 
dividuality stamped upon it as a settlement and the direction given to it 
at the beginning by those pioneers who first imbibed its inspiration and 
foresaw its destiny. Miami has been built up by the efforts, the labors 
and, most of all, the enthusiasm of many men, but among them certain in- 
dividuals stand forth pre-eminently because their accomplishments have 
been unusual and their standards and policies extraordinarily effective as 
forces in the direction of public thought and opinion. Among these is 
Colonel Edwin Alexander Waddell, known as one of the real builders of 
the city, for he was the second person to settle on the present townsite. 
His residence here dates from 1894, when the remnants of old Fort Dallas 
and the trading post on Brickell's Point furnished the only signs of human 
occupation. Since then he has been one of the leaders in all public move- 
ments for the advancement of the city's interests, standing today among 
the foremost of the city's loyal and aggressive citizens. 

Colonel Waddell was born in Perth, Ontario, Canada, August 13, 1859, 
and is of Scotch, Irish, English and Canadian descent. His father, James 
Waddell, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, of Scotch parents, and his 
mother, Margaret Caroline (Crafts) Waddell, was born in New Brunswick, 
Canada, of English descent. She died in Perth in September, 1885, at the 
age of sixty-two, and was survived by her husband only one year. He was 
a farmer and a lumber and grain dealer, and spent the greater part of his 
life in Perth, where his death occurred. Mr. and Mrs. James Waddell had 
six children, four sons and two daughters. The two eldest, James A. and 
and John A., have passed away. The others are : Dr. William H. Waddell, 
of North Augusta, Ontario, Canada; Margaret J. and Elizabeth A., both of 
whom reside in Perth. 

Edwin A. Waddell was reared and educated in Perth, Canada, and in 

166 



February, 1877, came to the United States, locating in New York, where 
he became connected with a wholesale butter, cheese and egg house. He 
remained with the firm for nine years, securing an interest in it, and be- 
coming its head, the business being conducted under the name of John A. 
Waddell & Company. Mr. Waddell came to Florida in 1886 and for a 
short time lived in Key West. During this time he invested in an orange 
grove in Arcadia, Florida, and afterward became active in the cattle busi- 
ness in the central part of the State. While on a pleasure cruise with his 
brother to visit Captain Dimick at Pafm Beach, one of the sails of the 
vessel gave way and the party came ashore, landing on the present town- 
site of Miami, in 1888. Mr. Waddell became so impressed with the natural 
advantages of the locality that he even then insisted on predicting the 
founding of the city and later returned to take his part in the work of 
development. For a time he maintained his residence in Lemon City, 
making daily visits to Miami, where he engaged in survey work in the en- 
deavor to locate land which he had purchased in 1888. Gradually Colonel 
Waddell was joined by other pioneers and in 1896 the town had a fair be- 
ginning, the railroad having brought many settlers. With the building of 
the Royal Palm Hotel and the establishment of business enterprises 
progress continued. Colonel Waddell leading in all progressive public meas- 
ures. He was one of a little group of prominent men known as "The 
Hungry Six," who, when they heard a dog howl, said to themselves with 
a knowing nod, "That's breakfast tomorrow." This shows in some degree 
the litnitations of diet in those early days, hash having been the principal 
article of food. Colonel Waddell has the distinction of being the oldest 
settler north of the Miami River inside the present limits of Miami, with 
the exception of Harry Tuttle, who was, however, a mere child when he 
located here, his mother owning all of the present site of Miami north of 
the river, with the exception of twenty acres owned by C. H. Day, of 
Augusta, Georgia. A local paper gives this account of Colonel Waddell's 
work in the interests of the city since settling here : "When Miami began 
to assume proportions and the start was really made, Colonel Waddell was 
among the foremost who talked, wrote, dreamed and advocated Miami on 
all sides and in this work he has never ceased. He has sent out thousands 
of dollars worth of literature pertaining to Miami and is as aggressive and 
loyal as any citizen within the city. He came to Miami to live and die, 
and there has never been a time when Miami needed him that he did not 
come forward and give assistance and advice. He is not only one of 
Miami's first business men, one of her first settlers and one of her best 
advocates, but also one of her best citizens. He has never had a hand in 
anything, business or private, that does not do him honor." 

Colonel Waddell is extensively engaged in the real estate business in 
Miami, conducting an office on Flagler street, where there is always an 
abundance of literature concerning the advantages of this part of Florida, 

167 



exhibits of fruits and vegetables, and where a general information bureau 
is maintained. He is vice-president of the First National Bank of Miami, 
a director in the Miami Savings Bank and a stockholder in the Bank of 
Bay Biscayne. 

On January 25, 1900, Colonel Waddell married Dorothea H. Watts, a 
native of Salem, Massachusetts, who was reared in Chelsea. They have 
one daughter, Maiy Dorothy. Colonel Waddell is a member of the Bene- 
volent Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias, and for four 
years served on the staff of Governor Gilchrist with the rank of colonel. 
He is a man of enthusiasm, of aggressive activity and constructive im- 
magination. Throughout the years he has steadily advocated in speech 
and action and through the publication of various writings the advantages 
of Miami, and this makes his idealism, guided and controlled by sound and 
practical business acumen, one of the greatest individual forces in the 
growth of the city. 

JOHN E. WITHERS 

John E. Withers, president of the John E. Withers Transfer and 
Storage Company, Incorporated, and one of the most successful and en- 
terprising business men of Miami, is a native of Sunrise, Minnesota, born 
May 30, 1861. He is a son of John T. and Arville (Hurd) Withers, the 
former a native of England and the latter born in the State of Ohio. John 
T. Withers died the death of a soldier during the Civil War in 1862. 

John E. Withers was but one year old when his father died. He ac- 
quired a public school education in the schools of his native State, and as 
a young man was engaged in farming pursuits for a few years. He has 
been engaged in the transfer and storage business for over thirty years. 
He resided in Long Prairie, Minnesota, for thirty-five years, where he suc- 
cessfully conducted a transfer and storage business for fifteen years, and 
where he was active and prominent in the commercial and political life 
of the community. He was mayor of that city for two years and a member 
of the city council for three years. Mr. Withers came to Miami in October. 
1910, and here laid the foundation for his present large enterprise. Start- 
ing with a one-horse outfit, his transfer and storage business has had a re- 
markable growth, evidencing executive and organizing ability of a high 
order. The present volume of business requires three large warehouses, 
and a fourth building is under construction which will be the finest build- 
ing of its kind in the State of Florida. The present main structure has 
250,000 square feet of floor space, is of modern concrete construction and 
absolutely fire-proof, and has convenient private track frontage. The John 
E. Withers Transfer and Storage Company was incorporated in May, 1917, 
with a capitalization of $25,000, with the following official personnel : John 
E. Withers, president; H. S. Withers, vice-president; C. E. Withers, sec- 
retary; W. T. Callahan, treasurer. Their furniture and merchandise ware- 

168 



houses are equipped with vaults and private rooms for valuables and their 
service includes packing, distributing and reshipping. The company has 
kept pace with the growth of Miami, and is regarded as one of the sub- 
stantial commercial institutions of the city. 

John E. Withers was married June 3, 1882, to Mary Etta Gaskill, 
who was born and reared in Collinsville, Illinois, and they have three 
children : Charles E., associated with the Withers Company as secretary ; 
Harold S., and Arvilla. Fraternally Mr. Withers is a thirty-second degree 
Mason. He is an active member of the Miami Chamber of Commerce 
and a public-spirited citizen who commands the confidence and high re- 
gard of all with whom he has been brought in contact in social and busi- 
ness life. 

HENRY R. CHASE 

Henry R. Chase, member of the Miami city council and principal 
factor in the Sturgis-Chase Company, automobile distributors, has been 
closely identified with the business, social and political development of 
Miami covering a period of many years, and is today recognized as one of 
the progressive citizens of the community. 

Mr. Chase was born in Portland, Maine, December 2, 1886, and he is a 
son of N. W. and Annie (Steel) Chase, both of whom were also natives of 
Portland, Maine. The mother is deceased and the father resides in Miami. 
Henry R. Chase came to Miami in June, 1895, when he was nine years of 
age, accompanying his grandfather here from West Palm Beach. He 
attended the Miami public schools and during the years 1902, 1903 and 
1904 attended the University of Florida. In 1904 he became a member of 
the Miami Fire Department and served with that organization until April, 
1917. On January 1, 1908, he was made chief of the fire department, being 
the first full paid fire chief of the city. In April, 1917, he resigned from the 
department to become general manager of a reclamation project in the 
Everglades, with which he was associated for a period of two years, residing 
during this time at Moorehaven, Florida. In 1919 he organized and became 
president of the Columbia Tire Company, Incorporated, which he disposed 
of, and in the fall of the same year organized the Sturgis-Chase Company, 
distributors of automobile tractors and trucks, a successful enterprise to 
which he is now devoting his attention. Taking an active interest in 
political affairs, Mr. Chase entered the city primaries of June, 1919, and 
was elected a member of the Miami city council at the ensuing election, 
taking office November 1, 1919, for an official term of four years. He is 
the committeeman on sanitation and his official prerogatives are exercised 
in support of progressive public measures looking to an economical admin- 
istration and one productive of reforms and improvement. 

Mr. Chase was married in 1908 to Laura Hodge, of Ocala, Florida, 
and they have three children: Laurie, Dorothy and Regina. Fraternally 
Mr. Chase is a Mason and a Member of the Shrine, and is also a mem- 
ber of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. 

169 



CAPTAIN JAMES FRANKLIN JAUDON 

Captain James Franklin Jaudon, connected with business, political 
and military circles of Dade County, and deservedly prominent in all, was 
born in Waco, Texas, October 19, 1873. He is a son of Paul Benjamin 
Jaudon, a native of South Carolina, of Fi-ench Huguenot descent. During 
the Civil War the father served as aid on the staff of General M. C. Butler, 
of the Confederate Army, and afterward made his home in Waco,, Texas, 
until 1881, when he came to Florida, locating in Orlando. There with the 
help of his sons he planted and developed one of the finest orange groves 
in the State, known as Isleworth and comprising one hundred acres of 
land on which were about seven thousand bearing trees. His wife was 
Frances M. Shuler, a native of Orangeburg, South Carolina. 

Captain James F. Jaudon was still a child when he came with his 
parents to Florida and he acquired his education in the public schools of 
Orlando. At fifteen years of age he became a clerk in a local store and 
was connected with mercantile interests for a number of years. He came to 
Miami in the fall of 1895, before the railroad was built and is numbered 
among the pioneers in the city and one of the greatest individual forces in 
its general development. He was here when the original city of Miami was 
incorporated, saw the foundation laid for the old Miami Hotel, which after- 
ward burned, as well as the foundation of the Royal Palm Hotel. He first 
engaged in trucking in Allappattah. About the time the Belcher Road 
was built he took the initiative in constructing the first hard rock surface 
road in the county from the golf grounds to the Allappattah school house. 
He had made fifteen hundred dollars the season before in trucking and 
he spent it all in making this road, with the assistance of his neighbors. 
From 1906 to 1908 he was city tax assessor of Miami and from 1909 to 
1917 he was State and county tax assessor. He was the prime mover in 
organizing the State Association of Tax Assessors of Florida in order to 
unify the assessments throughout the State, and during this time was a 
forceful exponent of the wisdom of separating State and county taxes, and 
still is. While tax assessor he succeeded in interesting the land owners and 
voters of Homestead and Florida City, and Special Road Tax District 
No. 1 was created for the purpose of constructing the Ingraham Highway 
to Cape Sabee. In 1915 he realized the necessity of a hard surface road 
south of Lake Okochobee to connect the east and west coast, and together 
with Francis W. Perry and E. G. Wilkinson of Lee County, and others, 
was instrumental in having Dade County create Special Road and Bridge 
Tax District No. 2 and Lee County Districts No. 1 and No. 3 to connect a 
hard surface road from Miami to Fort Myers, at a cost of about $600,000. 
As Dade County's portion traverses undrained everglade land, he, tO' 
gether with L. T. Highleyman and R. E. McDonald, purchased twenty 
thousand acres of land from the Drainage Board with the understanding 

170 




CAPTAIN J. F. JAUDON 



that the purchase price would be expended in draining the land adjacent 
to Tamiami Trail. This sum has been expended and the result is a cut off 
canal from Miami River to Tamiami Trail. This canal, fifty feet wide and 
ten feet deep, is making available a large area of excellent agricultural 
land. At the session of the legislature of 1917, Mr. Jaudon, with the co- 
operation of the Miami Chamber of Commerce, induced the legislature to 
create the Southern Drainage District, embracing all the lands adjacent 
to Tamiami Trail. The legislature designated Mr. Jaudon, L. T. Highley- 
man and J. P. Conrad as supervisors of this drainage district, which em- 
braces over one hundred thousand acres. Complete plans of reclamation 
have been made and as soon as bonds are sold the plan will be put into 
effect and necessary canals and drains will be constructed, which will give 
Miami as a back country one of the richest agricultural districts in Florida. 
With the construction of the Tamiami Trail is included the construction of 
the Miami Canal highway which now leads to the Curtis-Bright ranch 
and the Pennsylvania Sugar Company's plantation. This is the first real 
rock road built in the everglades and will give land owners an opportunity 
to reach their property. At the time of Mr. Jaudon's activities in con- 
nection with the promotion of the Tamiami trail he did not own an acre 
of land on the trail, but to show his faith in its construction he became one 
of the principal purchasers of the A. W. Hopkins tract in Dade and Monroe 
Counties, which lies due west on the trail and comprises two hundred and 
seven thousand acres, having four and one-half miles frontage on the Gulf 
of Mexico and over twenty miles frontage on a number of inland bays. The 
tract contains over one hundred and fifty million feet of cypress and pine 
timber, and there is over two billion feet of hardwood timber adjacent to 
Tamiami Trail. Mr. Jaudon is president of the Chevelier Corporation, own- 
ers of the Hopkins tract and developers of the property. The corporation 
has undertaken to construct twenty miles of the Tamiami Trail through 
their tract. Mr. Jaudon is a booster for deep water for Miami, realizing that 
Miami is the natural outlet for vast products of cypress and pine in western 
Dade and northern Monroe and south Lee Counties. To the end that this 
timber may be transported to Miami, and at the same time create a cross 
State railroad connection with the Florida East Coast and the Atlantic 
Coast Line at Fort Myers, he, with certain associates, secured a charter 
from the State for the Tamiami Railroad. A survey of almost the entire line 
was made and some of the preliminary construction work done, and as soon 
as industrial conditions permit the work is to be completed. Mr. Jaudon is 
very enthusiastic about development opportunities of the Everglades. He 
predicts the largest sugar plantations in the world between Miami and 
Fort Myers, as well as large furniture factories. He also predicts large 
cattle ranges, with the possible establishment of immense shoe factories. 
He brought to Miami S. R. Ginsburg, a sugar engineer from Ramona 
Central, San Domingo, who pronounced the lands on the Tamiami Trail, 

171 



when drained, as the very best for sugar cane production. This report 
was concurred in by A. J. Greif, of Morton, New York, who was vice- 
president and general manager of the Haytian-American Sugar Company. 
He also secured the services of B. M. Hall, of Atlanta, Georgia, who is one 
of the greatest American hydraulic and drainage engineers, who pro- 
nounced that the lands can be drained effectively and economically and 
that when drained they will be of the highest class sugar cane land. 

In the life record of Captain Jaudon is a creditable military 
chapter. In 1895, while a resident of Orlando, he joined Company C, 
Florida National Guard, and was promoted from the rank of private to 
that of corporal and then to that of sergeant. On May 1, 1900, he became 
one of the organizers of Company L, Second Battalion, Second Infantry, 
in Miami, and was appointed sergeant of this troop, winning promotion to 
the rank of first sergeant in 1901 and to that of second lieutenant in the 
following year. On December 5, 1903, he was commissioned captain and 
served for four years, during which time he took his company to Manassas 
and participated in the national maneuvers at that place. In 1911 he helped 
to organize Company M, Second Battalion Infantry, and was made captain 
and commander of Post Miami, N. G. F., serving until July 5, 1912, when, 
at his own request, he was retired. 

Captain Jaudon married, November 22, 1911, Maude Coachman, of 
Miami, a daughter of Richard Alden Coachman. Fraternally he is affili- 
ated with the Masons, the Knights of Pythias,, the Odd Fellows, the Elks, 
the Maccabees and the Loyal Order of Moose. There are few citizens of 
Dade County more widely and favorably known than Captain Jaudon, 
whose enterprise, energy and ability have carried him forward into im- 
portant business relations and who in social, military and political circles 
has won a high and honored place and left an impress for good upon the 
community. 

JOHN S. COLLINS 

The history of Dade County will long bear the impress of the indi- 
viduality and the constructive ability of John S. Collins. As a pioneer 
developer of Miami Beach his activities there have touched and affected 
practically every important phase of its later development. He was the 
first to visualize the possibilities of that favored section and his operations 
there antedate the foundation of the community. His construction of 
the Collins Bridge and the Collins Canal, engineering projects of great 
magnitude, would alone entitle him to a large place in community his- 
tory, but he has other important achievements to his credit. As a 
planter and grower of tropical fruits on a large scale he has demon- 
strated the practicability of horticultural development in this section 
and given tangible proof of the opportunity that is here offered. 

Mr. Collins is a native of Moorestown, New Jersey, born December 

172 



29, 1837. He is a son of Isaac and Sarah (Stratton) Collins, both of 
whom were also natives of Burlington County, New Jersey. The father 
was a New Jersey farmer who lived and died in that State. John S. 
Collins acquired a public school education in the schools of his native 
community. When a young man he engaged in the fruit growing in- 
dustry. When he was twenty years of age his father gave him one- 
fourth of an acre of land and he planted one-half of this in strawberries, 
harvesting therefrom the following year one thousand and eighty quarts 
of berries. He has been identified with the fruit growing industry ever 
since. He established the Pleasant Valley Nurseries at Moorestown, New 
Jersey, now conducted under the name of Collins & Son ; his son, Arthur, 
being in charge and owner. They grow strawberries, apples, peaches, 
pears and all kinds of fruit. Mr. Collins first came to Florida in the 
early nineties, before the railroad was built to Palm Beach. After the 
railroad was completed he came on to Miami. In 1907 he bought a one- 
half interest in the land extending from Jupiter to the Norris Cut, em- 
bracing about forty-five hundred acres, and in 1909 he bought the other 
half interest in some seventeen hundred acres. This gave him sixteen 
hundred and seventy acres, extending four and a quarter miles along 
the ocean and one mile on the bay. He later sold to the Fisher interests 
two hundred acres, extending one mile from the bay to the ocean. About 
1909 he constructed the Collins Canal and in 1913 finished the Collins 
Bridge across Biscayne Bay at a cost of eighty thousand dollars. He 
engaged in the cultivation of tropical fruits on an extensive scale and 
developed one of the finest orchards in the South. He planted over ten thou- 
sand mangoes and avocadoes from 1908 to 1912, becoming the largest 
shipper of avocadoes in this locality. His interests have been taken over 
by the Miami Beach Improvement Company, a corporation, of which Mr. 
Collins is president. 

Mr. Collins married, January 17, 1861, Rachael A. Rogers, who died 
September 12, 1914, after over fifty-five years of wedded life, leaving 
five children: Mary, Arthur J., Irving and Lester, of Moorestown, New 
Jersey, and Katharine, who is the wife of Thomas J. Pancoast, of Miami 
Beach. On September 16, 1916, Mr. Collins married Ida K. Homer, of 
Camden County, New Jersey. Mr. Collins is the only living charter mem- 
ber of the New Jersey Horticultural Society. He is also a charter mem- 
ber of the Burlington County (New Jersey) Grange. His life labors 
have indeed been a serviceable factor in the world's work, his influence 
being ever on the side of progress and improvement. In all that he 
undertakes he is actuated by a spirit of enthusiasm that has been and 
is an inspiration to others. His genial qualities, his social disposition 
and his genuine worth have gained him many friends who recognize his 
ability and appreciate his worth. 



173 



H. TRISTAM FERRIS 

H. Tristam Ferris, deputy collector of customs, in charge, has been a 
citizen of Miami for over twenty years. His long residence here covers 
the period of the city's transition from a sand trail to its present high de- 
velopment and he has played a creditable, though unostentatious, part in 
the community's material progress, as well as being a contributing factor 
in his sphere of influence toward the promotion of its humanitarian and 
civic interests. Mr. Ferris is a native of Greenwich, Connecticut, born 
May 2, 1868, and is a son of Nathaniel B. and Louise K. (Keeler) Ferris, 
both of whom also were natives of Greenwich. Nathaniel B. Ferris, who 
is eighty-two years of age, resides on Riverside Drive, New York City. 
His wife died about 1915. The Ferris family comes from Norman stock 
and the family genealogy may be traced back to 16-35, when Jeffrey Ferris, 
the progenitor of the family in America, settled in Boston. He came with 
the first settlers and his name is on the list of those who paid for the first 
land survey in Boston and received ten acres of land on the first assignment 
of lands. He removed to Wetherfield, Connecticut, and in 1656 was one of 
eleven Greenwich men who petitioned to be accepted under the New Haven 
jurisdiction. He was one of the first purchasers of land from Indian chiefs 
and this conveyance included what is now Greenwich. Nathaniel Ferris, 
father of the subject of this review, was the sixth in the ancestral line of 
the direct descendants of Jeffrey Ferris, the original progenitor of the 
American branch. 

H. Tristam Ferris was reared in his native city of Greenwich and 
acquired his primary education in the public schools of Greenwich and 
Stamford, Connecticut. He then entered Yale University,, from which 
institution he was graduated in 1891, with the degree of A. B. He im- 
mediately took up the practice of law in New York City and for eight years 
was actively engaged in the practice of his profession. On account of his 
health he was attracted to Florida, and settled in Miami in 1899, locating 
on west Twentieth street, where he planted a ten-acre grove of grape 
fruit, which he retained until recently. In 1903 he entered the United 
States custom service and for the past eighteen years he has devoted all 
of his time to his official work, his long tenure of office and his able dis- 
charge of his official prerogatives constituting a most commedable record 
of governmental service. 

Mr. Ferris married March 30, 1903, Mamie Carpenter, of Columbus, 
Ohio, who was born at Piqua, Ohio. They have two children : Harry T. 
Ferris, Jr., and Stephen N. Ferris. Mrs. Ferris and the children are mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian Church. Fraternally Mr. Ferris is a member of 
the Elks. He is a man of domestic tastes and his club is his home. Dur- 
ing his collegiate days Mr. Ferris was a prominent athelete, being a mem- 
ber of the Yale football team as well as a member of the 'varsity eight-oar 
crew. 

174 



Various members of the Ferris family occupy prominent and influen- 
tial positions in the business world. Theodore E. Ferris, a brother, is a 
noted marine architect of New York City, and was formerly a member of 
the United States Shipping Board. L. F. Ferris, another brother, is secre- 
tary of the Broadway Savings Bank of New York City, and W. I. Ferris, 
also a brother, is vice-president of the L. E. Waterman Pen Company, 
New York City. Laura C. Ferris, a sister, has for many years been a 
teacher in the Washington Irving High School of New York. 

A man of constructive intelligence, broad views and fine academic 
training, Mr. Ferris holds high rank in the community as a citizen whose 
interest in community affairs has at all times been progressive and public- 
spirited. 

ROBERT E. CHAFER, D. D. S. 

Dr. Robert E. Chafer has the distinction of being the pioneer dentist 
of Miami, having been in active practice here since July 2, 1896, and in this 
intervening period has established his position as an able, learned and con- 
scientious practitioner. Dr. Chafer was born at Boone, Boone County, 
Iowa, October 26, 1865. He came with his parents, Robert Marshall and 
Prudence (Osborn) Chafer, to Florida in 1867, when he was but two years 
of age, and the family located in Jacksonville, where Robert E. Chafer 
grew to manhood, acquiring his education in the public schools, and attend- 
ing Newberry College, at Newberry, South Carolina. The parents were 
pioneer settlers in Jacksonville, finding it upon their arrival a mere village. 
They subsequently removed to Miami and here passed away. 

Dr. Robert E. Chafer studied dentistry as a young man and in 1895 was 
graduated from the Birmingham Dental College in Birmingham, Alabama, 
with the degree of D. D. S. He has since that time been actively engaged 
in the practice of his profession, in which he has attained a position of 
distinction. He located in Miami July 2, 1896, and for one year and a half 
thereafter was the only dentist in the city. Ever since receiving his 
degree he has devoted all of his time to his profession, keeping constantly 
in touch with its most advanced thought and carrying forward his studies 
through individual research and investigation. He is one of the best known 
and most successful dental surgeons in the State and enjoys an extensive 
and representative patronage. 

Dr. Chafer married, in Miami, Februay 15, 1898, Margaret Nelson, 
who was bom in Monticello, Florida, and who removed with her parents to 
Miami shortly after the city was founded. Dr. and Mrs. Chafer have three 
children, Aleene B., Robert Nelson, and John W. The parents belong to the 
Episcopal church and fraternally Dr. Chafer is affiliated with the Knights 
of Pythias. By his ability, enterprise and success he has secured a high 
place in professional circles of the State, while in the wide sphere of use- 
fulness as a citizen he ranks among the public-spirited and progressive men 
who have taken an active and commendable interest in the promotion of 
the material and moral welfare of the community. 

175 



PHILLIP ULLEXDORFF 

Phillip Ullendorff, who has been prominently identified with the in- 
dustrial and commei-cial growth of Miami and who as a citizen has played 
an honorable and worthy part in community affairs, is numbered among 
the pioneers of the city, his residence here dating from 1896, the year 
the city was founded. Mr. Ullendorff was born in Germany March 1, 
1867, and was there reared and educated. He served in the regular army 
there from 1887 to 1889 as a member of the One Hundred and Twenty- 
eighth Regiment of Infantry, and one year after his honorable discharge 
he came to the United States. This was in 1890. After spending two years 
near Greenwood, Mississippi, he came to Florida and has since resided on 
the eastern coast of this State, having been in business first at Fort Pierce 
and then at West Palm Beach. In 1896 he came to Miami and here he has 
since made his home. He is one of the pioneer business men of the city, 
having been engaged for a number of years as a dealer in fresh and salt 
meats. By ability, enterprise and straightforward methods he built a 
business of such large proportions that in June, 1911, the P. Ullendorff 
Company, a corporation, was formed, of which he was the active principal. 
Mr. Ullendorff is president of the Nichols-Ullendorff Realty Company and 
is a director of the South Okeechobee Farms Company of Miami, both pros- 
perous concerns. He is numbered among the solid, substantial men of the 
community, being a large owner of local real estate, as well as having 
valuable properties in Jacksonville, Key West, Atlanta, Georgia, and 
Manitou, Colorado. 

Mr. Ullendorff married, March 31, 1895, Jennie Simpson, of Jasper, 
Hamilton County, Florida, and they are the parents of two children : twins, 
Eugene Phillip and Annette J. 

Fraternally Mr. Ullendorff is connected with the Masonic order, being 
a member of the Royal Arch and the Shrine. He also is a member of the 
Elks. His long residence here has made him widely known and his many 
fine traits of character have gained for him the high regard which is uni- 
formly accorded him. He has been a large and generous contributor to 
charitable and civic organizations, and as a public-spirited citizen who 
seeks the benefit of the community along lines of progress, reform and 
improvement his co-operation can always be counted upon to further any 
movement for the general good. 

ROBERT ERIC HALL 

Robert Eric Hall, scholar and educator, is a man who has made 
pronounced administrative and executive ability effective in the field of 
education and in the promotion of the spread of public learning, a work to 
which he has devoted many forceful years. As Superintendent of Public 
Instruction of Dade County for a period of sixteen years he proved his 

176 




p. ULLENDORFF 



constructive and efficient work not only as a scholar and a student but 
also an organizer of marked ability. The growth and development of 
the schools of Dade County and their present high standard is due 
largely to the administrative ability of Mr. Hall and to his modern, pro- 
gressive ideals. Hr. Hall is a native Floridan, born in Wakulla County, 
January 7, 1871, and on the parternal side is of English ancestry and a 
descendant of that branch of the American family of which Lyman Hall, 
a signer of the Declaration of Independence was a member. He is a son 
of Rev. George and Amanda Malvina (Mobley) Hall, the latter also a 
representative of a prominent American family whose members were 
well known among the early Virginia colonists. The father was a native 
of Georgia and from that State enlisted for service in the Civil War, join- 
ing the Fourteenth Georgia Volunteers as a private. In that command 
he served until the battle of Spottsylvania Courthouse, where he was 
wounded and captured, remaining in prison at Fort Delaware until shortly 
before Lee's surrender at Appomattox. After he received his discharge 
he removed to Florida, settling in Wakulla County and later in Clay 
County, where he engaged in orange growing. 

Robert Eric Hall was reared in his native section and acquired his 
preliminary education in the public schools. In 1889 he secured a posi- 
tion as teacher in the public schools of Alachua County, where he taught 
two years, but, considering his education still incomplete, he gave up 
teaching for a time and entered Gordon Institute in Georgia, where he 
remained until 1896. In that year he became a student in the National 
Normal University of Ohio, from which he was graduated in 1899 with 
the degree of Bachelor of English. He immediately turned his attention 
to teaching, a profession which he followed for many years and in which 
he has won notable distinction. He taught in the public schools of Georgia, 
Alabama and Florida, and has been principal of some of the best high 
schools of those States. His residence in Dade County dates from 1901 
and his position in educational circles of this section is indicated by the 
fact that three years later he was elected county Superintendent of Pub- 
lic Instruction. His able and far-sighted work won him re-election in 
1908, 1912 and again in 1916, serving in all four official terms. Under his 
able management the schools of Dade County have grown and expanded, 
improvements in management have been instituted and more efficient 
methods installed, so that they are today second to none in Florida. Mr. 
Hall has very modern and practical ideas regarding the branches taught 
in the public schools, feeling that education is simply a more or less ade- 
quate preparation for future life work. He deprecates the prevalent un- 
scientific methods of farming and of horticulture in Florida and is an 
enthusiastic advocate of the study of agriculture in the public schools. 
He retired as Superintendent of Public Instruction on January 1, 1921, 
after a service of sixteen years' educational work in Dade County, leaving 

177 



a record of accomplishment perhaps unequalled in the annals of South 
Florida. Since leaving official life he has become identified with im- 
portant real estate interests of Miami, being engaged as an individual 
broker in the promotion of Bay View sub-division, one of the high-class 
and attractive sub-divisions of Miami. 

In 1906 Mr. Hall was married to Lena Rogers, of South Carolina, 
a daughter of Winston and Elizabeth (Muldrow) Rogers, who reside on 
a large plantation in South Carolina, which was granted to the ancestors 
of Mrs. Hall by Charles II of England. Mrs. Hall was before her marri- 
age secretary to the president of the South Carolina University at Co- 
lumbia. Mr. and Mrs. Hall have three children: Winston Elizabeth, 
Robert Eric, Jr., and Lena Jeanne. 

Mr. Hall is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South and 
has extensive and important fraternal affiliations, among which may be 
mentioned his connection with the Masonic order and the Elks. He is 
also a charter member of the Miami Rotary Club. He is a member of 
the Order of Red Deer, in which order he holds the position of Ruler, 
being the first Ruler of the Miami lodge. He is a member of the Florida 
Educational Association, in which he has served as president and as chair- 
man of the executive committee. Distinguished as a scholar and edu- 
cator through his long years of continuous and faithful public service, 
he is also known as a resourceful business man and a progressive citizen. 
He is always to be found among the leaders in the promotion of projects 
for the public improvement or advancement and his work and accom- 
plishments have had a notable effect upon community history. 

BEN C. WIIXARD 

Ben C. Willard, representative from Dade County in the Florida 
House of Representatives and member of the law firm of Willard & Knight, 
Miami, has the distinction of being the youngest legislative representative 
ever chosen for that honor by the people of Dade County. He is also one 
of the younger members of the Dade County bar. Mr. Willard is a native 
Floridian, born at City Point, Brevard County, August 6, 1891, and he is a 
son of C. A. and Octavia L. (Johnson) Willard, both of whom are also 
natives of Florida and residents of Miami. 

Mr. Willard acquired his primary education in the public schools of 
Dade County and in 1906 entered the John B. Stetson University at 
DeLand, Florida, first entering the academy and later the law department, 
graduating in 1914 with the degree of LL. B. He was admitted to the bar 
in June, 1914, and in October of that year began his professional practice. 
He was first associated with L. R. Railey, and later with M. D. Price. He 
then became a member of the firm of Carson, Pine & Willard. Six months 
later Mr. Pine withdrew and the firm of Carson & Willard continued until 

178 



April, 1919, when F. L. Knight became a member of the firm. The part- 
nership of Carson, Willard & Knight continued until July, 1920, when it 
was dissolved and the present firm of Willard & Knight was formed. Mr. 
Willard enlisted for service in the United States army on April 26, 1918, 
and was assigned to Company D, 306th ammunition train. He saw 
eighteen months service during the world war, twelve months of which 
was spent overseas. He was in the Meuse sector for one month and when 
the armistice was signed he was doing duty in the Argonne. He was 
discharged from the military forces July 26, 1919, and upon his return to 
Miami resumed his professional practice. He was elected to the Florida 
House of Representatives at the general election in 1920, an honor conferred 
in recognition of his true manliness and worth. The same spirit of loyalty 
and courage which characterized the boy soldier is manifest in his every 
relation of life and has gained for him the high regard of representative 
and successful men. 

Mr. Willard married February 9, 1920, to Billie Turquenette, of 
SuflFolk, Virginia. Fraternally he is a member of the Elks. He is num- 
bered among the popular young professional men of the city and takes an 
active and helpful interest in community aflfairs. 

DON F. FERRIS 

Don F. Ferris, identified with important mercantile interests of Miami 
as principal of the Don Ferris Company, clothiers and haberdashers, and 
the owner of other valuable corporate interests, is a native of Cincinnati, 
Ohio, born June 23, 1878. He is a son of P. S. and Jennie (Whiteside) 
Ferris, the former a native of the State of Michigan and the latter born 
in the State of Ohio. The father is deceased and the mother now resides 
at Atlanta, Georgia. 

Ml'. Ferris was reared in Nashville, Tennessee, to which city his 
parents had removed when he was four years of age. The family subse- 
quently removed to Omaha, Nebraska, later to Kansas City and then to 
Atlanta. He acquired his education in the schools of the above-named 
cities, and has been connected with the clothing and men's furnishings 
business since he was thirteen years of age. He came to Miami in 1911 
and here established himself in business on Flagler Street. In December, 
1919, he opened a second store on Flagler Street, and in 1921 he opened 
a fashionable men's shop at the Flamingo Hotel, Miami Beach. His princi- 
pal Miami store is one of the most elegantly equipped and lavishly furnished 
establishments of the kind in the country. His extensive experience as an 
importer and dealer is reflected in the exclusive lines shown in his shops 
and he enjoys the patronage of a select and discriminating public. In ad- 
dition to his mercantile interests, Mr. Ferris has other important corporate 
connections. He is vice-president and half owner of the British-American 

179 



Insurance Company, a corporation of Nassau, Bahama Islands, besides 
being a large holder of local real estate. 

Mr. Ferris was married June 23, 1910, to Lulu Roehl, of Knoxville, 
Tennessee. He is past exalted ruler of Miami Lodge No. 948, Benevolent 
Protective Order of Elks, and is a member of the Bimini Bay Rod and Gun 
Club and a member of the Anglers' Club. Mr. Ferris has traveled exten- 
sively and in all comparative tests he is a loyal champion of Miami and 
an enthusiastic booster of the city's present stability and future greatness. 

DANIEL CROMER 

A due measure of success invariably results from clearly defined 
purpose and consecutive effort in the affairs of life, but in noting the 
career of one who by innate ability and sheer force of character has won for 
himself a substantial success there comes into view the Intrinsic individ- 
uality which made such accomplishment possible. Daniel Cromer, one of 
the active principals of the New York Department Store, Miami, belongs 
to that praiseworthy class of men who have worked their way from some- 
what discouraging beginnings to a place of leadership and influence, and 
his career presents a notable example of those qualities of mind and char- 
acter which overcome obstacles and win success. Mr. Cromer was born in 
Russia August 11, 1877, and left his native country when a lad of eleven, 
accompanying his mother to Scotland. There he found employment at 
various work and a year later embarked for America. He made his way 
to Chicago and there as a boy he sold papers on the streets for a year 
or more, meanwhile mastering the language and adding to the meagre 
education he had received in Russia such knowledge as he could obtain by 
contact and obsei-vation. He next found employment in a dry goods store 
in Chicago, where his industry and close application were soon recognized 
and for nine years he was a valued employee of the concern, rising even- 
tually to the position of manager. In 1904 he located in Tampa, Florida, 
and there began his independent career as a merchant, engaging in the 
dry goods business and conducting a successful store there for a period of 
five years. He then removed to Mobile, Alabama, where for a short time 
he was in the retail jewelry business. From there he removed to New 
York city, where for three years he was engaged in the wholesale jewelry 
business. In 1913 he came to Miami and here bought what was then the 
New York Bargain Store, a small establishment. He changed the name to 
the New York Department Store and began at once to enlarge the store 
and improve the stock. In 1918 his brother-in-law, I. M. Cassell, became 
associated with him in the enterprise. The story of their phenomenal 
success forms an interesting chapter in the business history of the city. 
Starting with a floor space of about four thousand feet they now have a 
capacity of twenty-five thousand feet. They own their own building, 
which has a frontage of one hundred and fifty feet on Miami Avenue, the 

180 



largest frontage of any store in south Florida. The New York Department 
Store is modern and up-to-date in every particular and metropolitan in its 
aspect. It is one of the popular trading centers of the city and its patron- 
age is steadily and rapidly growing, for the business methods employed 
are such as to merit the confidence and support of the general public. 
They do an annual business of three-quarters of a million dollars, and 
something of the store's popularity may be observed when it is mentioned 
that this is an increase from fifty-three thousand done during their first 
year. Mr. Cromer is identified with other important property interests 
in the joint ownership with his brother-in-law of the Crosel Apartments 
and the Bay View Apartments, two valuable properties of the city. 

Mr. Cromer married, June 14, 1911, Estelle C. Cassell, of New York 
city, and they have two children: Maurice and Dorris. Fraternally he is 
aflliliated with the Elks. He is an active, energetic and progressive busi- 
ness man, who thoroughly understands modern methods of merchandizing. 
His excellent business and executive ability is easily discernible in his well 
conducted store. A self-made man, he has made good use of his time, 
talents and opportunities and the simple weight of his character and ability 
have gained for him a large and substantial success. 

DAVID afre:mow 

David Afremow is numbered among the highly successful men of 
Miami, and his extensive interests are the legitimate fruitage of consecu- 
tive effort, directed and controlled not only by good judgment but also by 
correct business principles. Appreciative of the attractions and advan- 
tages of the City of Miami, he has here found it possible to gain a position 
as one of its leading capitalists and substantial men of affairs and enjoys 
unmistakable popular esteem on account of his many admirable personal 
qualities. Mr. Afremow is a native of Russia, born December 25, 1865, 
and is a son of Solomon and Vera (Calmenson) Afremow, both of whom 
were also natives of Russia. The mother died in her native country. The 
father came to America, locating at Chicago, where he resided for twenty 
years, dying at the age of eighty-seven years. David Afremow came to 
the United States thirty-five years ago, or in 1886. He had received a 
fairly good education in the public and high schools of his native com- 
munity and upon his arrival here located in Chicago and engaged in the 
mercantile business, where he conducted a successful business for a period 
of eighteen years. Removing to Tampa, Florida, he was identified with 
mercantile interests there until he came to Miami twelve years ago. Here 
he established the New York Bargain Store, now the New York Depart- 
ment Store, and built up a large and profitable enterprise, which he con- 
ducted until April 1, 1913, when he disposed of it to the present owners, 
Cromer & Cassel. Since then he has given his time to his large private 
interests. 

181 



Mr. Afremow was married in Edinburg, Scotland, thirty-two years ago 
to Sarah Cromer. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order. A 
man of great native ability, sound judgment and keen discernment, he 
has won for himself an honorable competency, and is regarded by all as 
one of the solid, substantial citizens of the community. 

JUDGE WILL H. PRICE 

Judge Will H. Price, of the law firm of Price, Price & Small, of 
Miami, stands among the foremost leaders of the Dade County Bar and 
is equally noted as a progressive citizen whose career confers credit 
upon the community. His high character and marked ability have won 
for him much more than local repute and he is recognized today as a 
conspicuous figure in the body politic of the State. Judge Price was 
born near Jackson, Mississippi, March 10, 1864, and is a son of Rev. 
William and Frances (Fly) Price, the former a native of the State of 
Tennessee and the latter of Mississippi. The father was a Methodist 
minister, who removed to Texas in 1869, having been elected to the Texas 
Northern Conference; he died September 18, 1899, at Weatherford, 
Texas, where his widow still resides. 

Judge Price acquired a common school education at Weatherford, 
Texas. While a young man he was engaged in the abstract and real 
estate business at Decatur, Texas. He read law at night and was ad- 
mitted to the bar at Decatur, Texas, in 1886. In November, 1893, he 
removed to Mariana, Florida, and began the practice of law there in 
1894, which place continued as the field of his professional labors until 
July, 1917, when he removed to Miami and formed a partnership with 
his brother, Mitchell D. Price. His present connection as a member of 
the firm of Price, Price & Small dates from October, 1919. Judge Price's 
comprehensive knowledge, high character and eminent ability have won 
for him distinctive recognition by his State and party. He served as 
judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida during the years 1911 and 
1912, resigning to resume the practice of law^ He served as chairman 
of the Democratic State Executive Committee from 1908 to 1912, inclu- 
sive, and as presidential elector in 1916. He was president of the Florida 
State Bar Association during 1916 and 1917. In these positions of honor 
and trust he served with signal ability and exalted purpose and left the 
impress of his work and personality upon the annals of the State. 

Judge Price married, October 14, 1885, Mattie L. McCracken, daugh- 
ter of William McCracken, of Springtown, Texas. Of their three chil- 
dren, two are living: W. C. Price, an attorney of Miami, and Thomas 
Earl Price, municipal judge of Miami. Judge Price is a steward of the 
M. E. Church of Miami. Fraternally he is a thirty-second degree Mason 
and a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Elks and the Woodmen 

182 




JUDGE WILL H. PRICE 



of the World. He practices in the State and Federal courts. He pos- 
sesses wide knowledge of the various branches of law and has won a 
number of notable victories in the courts. He stands as a worthy and 
conspicuous member of that group of men whose influence in the civic 
and social life as well as in professional circles has always been of a most 
beneficent order. 

GEORGE F. COOK 

George F. Cook, secretary-treasurer of the Chevelier Corporation, has 
been identified with Miami affairs since 1904, and during the years of his 
residence here he has been an important factor in various commercial 
enterprises that have affected and influenced the general development. As 
a contractor and real estate developer he has shown a capacity for large and 
important undertakings, while his activities in connection with the Cook 
Steamship Company influenced particularly the transportation problem of 
the city. His efforts in connection with the operation of an independent 
steamship line was attended with spectacular results and forms one of the 
most interesting chapters in the history of the community. 

Mr. Cook is a native of Toronto, Canada, born May 8, 1860, and he is a 
son of Robert and Anna (Widdlfield) Cook, the former a native of England 
and the latter born in the Dominion of Canada. Both parents are deceased. 
He acquired his education in the public schools of his native community 
and when eighteen years of age found employment with the Canadian 
Pacific Railroad. One year later he became connected with the construc- 
tion department of the Northern Pacific Railroad and in this capacity 
helped to bufld this road through the Bad Lands of the Dakotas. Remov- 
ing to Minnesota, he was for four years engaged in building elevators in 
Minnesota and North Dakota for the Pillsbury & Hurlburt Milling Com- 
pany. He then located at Brainard, Minnesota, and later at Wadena, Min- 
nesota, and was there engaged in the general conti-acting business up to 
1888. Returning to Canada, he was established in the real estate business 
at Toronto for a period of four years, after which he took up his residence 
in New York city while engaged in the manufacturing business at Matte- 
wan, New Jersey, where he placed on the market Cook's Flake Rice, a 
breakfast food. In 1904 he came to Miami and here was awarded the 
contract to construct the jetties protecting the light house and sea wall 
at Cape Florida. The following season he became agent for the Benner 
line of freight schooners plying from New York to Miami, and in this 
capacity constructed the first independent dock on the Miami river. 
Later he became agent for the Nassau Schooner Line and succeeded in 
bringing all of the Bahama trade to Miami. In 1907 he organized the 
Key West-Miami Transportation Line and operated a line of schooners 
between Miami and Key West, connecting with the Mallory Line at Key 
West and bringing freight to Miami. In 1909 he bought the steamer 

183 



Magic City, organizing the Cook Steamship Company, and started car- 
rying freight from Jaclisonville to Miami. He met with strong opposition 
as an independent carrier and aroused a wide-spread discussion of the 
much-mooted problem of local transportation. Those were frenzied days 
in Miami, the partisans of each side espousing their views in strong terms, 
and many interesting incidents in connection with this maritime contest 
will be recalled by the older citizens of the community. The Cook Steam- 
ship Company finally went out of business February 16, 1910, when the 
steamer Magic City was rammed and sunk in the St. John River. Mr. 
Cook afterward became vice-president of the Merchants and Planters 
Transportation Company, organized to take over the business of the Cook 
Steamship Company, of which Governor Broward was president. In this 
capacity he bought the steamer Fanny Hart. In 1911 he became asso- 
ciated with L. T. Highleyman in the development of Point View, and as 
vice-president of the Point View Realty Company was a factor in the 
development of this beautiful residential section, having built the first 
house there. In 1913-1914, as president of the George F. Cook Company, 
general contractors, he constructed the Collins canal and the Collins bridge, 
engineering projects of great magnitude in those days. In 1917 he was 
instrumental in the organization of the Chevelier Corporation, of which he 
is secretary and treasurer. This corporation owns two hundred thousand 
acres of land on the Tamiami Trail lying in Dade and Monroe Counties, 
which they propose to develop. They are now building a rock road through 
this property at a cost of one million dollars. 

Mr. Cook married, June 21, 1881, Amy E. Lowell of the noted Lowell 
family of New England, of Lake City, Minnesota. Mrs. Cook is a director 
of the Women's Club of Miami and active in the social and club life of the 
city. Mr. and Mrs. Cook are the parents of six sons: Leroy is an editor 
with Industrial Press of New city; Erben is a business associate with 
his father; Charles I. is superintendent for Hugh M. Matheson, Coconut 
Grove, and served in France with the famous Wild Cat Division during the 
World War ; Wilfred L., who is secretary-treasurer of the Hickson & Cook 
Corporation, served in the flying corps with the Canadian army during the 
World War ; Lewis E. is a member of the staff of the Fidelity Bank & Trust 
Company, Miami, and during the great war was in command of a subma- 
rine chaser; Robert H. is a paying teller at the Southern Bank & Trust 
Company, Miami. Progressive and public-spirited, Mr. Cook ranks among 
the enterprising men of the community. His work along various lines has 
been of far-reaching value and his influence has been felt in the upbuilding 
of the city and still plays an important part in its development and con- 
tinued growth. 

184 



JAMES DONN 

There is perhaps no record in this volume which indicates more clearly 
the opportunities which Florida offers to her citizens than does that of 
James Donn, florist, landscape gardener and nurseryman, operating the 
Exotic Gardens, Miami, and universally recognized as one of the leaders 
in business and an element in municipal expansion. Gifted with ideas of 
his own, he was not long in making up his mind that south Florida was 
deserving of all and more than was claimed for it, and his subsequent 
success in developing the resources of the southland in a highly specialized 
field has proven the wisdom of his convictions. 

James Donn was born in Lanark, Scotland, February 7, 1887. He is 
a son of James and Margaret (Meikle) Donn, both of whom also were 
natives of Scotland. The father is deceased and the mother came to 
America in 1920. Mr. Donn was reared in his native land and educated in 
the public schools there. He began work as a florist when a lad of eleven 
years and he has since that time been continuously identified with this 
special line. When twenty-one years of age he came to New York city and 
for a period of five years he was there engaged as a florist and nursery- 
man, being associated with a prominent Fifth Avenue house. In 1914 he 
came to Miami and here established the foundation of his present large 
business, starting in a very small way. In the beginning a horse and 
wagon were sufficient for his requirements, while now his concern has 
gi'own to such proportions that thirteen large automobile trucks are de- 
manded to serve his needs. The Exotic Gardens have green houses at 
Twenty-sixth and Broadway, and gardens at Allapattah, while they main- 
tain sales rooms at 449 Flager street, Miami, where a collection of tropical 
and decorative plants are on display. A branch establishment is also 
maintained at Palm Beach. The Exotic Gardens are occupied principally 
in developing large estates in the way of landscape work. They raise, plant 
and cultivate tropical stock and their service includes the combined work 
of the florist, nurseryman and landscape artist. They have supplied 
practically every fine estate in Miami and Dade county, as well as furnish- 
ing the leading hotels with decorative plants and shrubs. A large and 
flourishing business has been built up by Mr. Donn through his own 
ingenuity and ability, and while there is no spectacular phase in his success 
it clearly indicates business ability of a high order and an adherence to 
those ideals which make for commercial success. 

Mr. Donn married October 19, 1914, Nellie Whitefield, who also is a 
native of Lanark, Scotland, and they have one daughter, Helen. Frater- 
nally he is affiliated with the Masons, being a member of the Scottish 
Rite and a member of the Shrine Club. He is also a member of the Rotary 
Club and the Miami Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Donn was recently 
appointed a member of the committee of five to prepare plans for the 

185 



development of the Biscayne Bay water front property in Miami. He is 
representative of the spirit of enterprise that is awakening the southland 
to the opportunities that have been lying dormant for many years, and 
he has always at heart the general development. Successful in the truest 
sense of the word, he believes in something more than mere material 
success, and in an unostentatious way has been a factor for good along 
numerous lines, benefiting the community and advancing its intellectual 
and moral status. 

TURNER A. WINFIELD 

Turner A. Winfield is one of the pioneer citizens of Miami. As one of 
the sturdy figures upon whom the burdens of the new community fell, he 
has been a serviceable factor in bringing about the resultant evolution of 
development and has been identified in an important way with public 
affairs and commercial enterprise. Mr. Winfield is a native of Broadway, 
Virginia, born December 14, 1863, and he is a son of Dr. John Q. and 
Sallie (Nefl[") Winfield, both of whom were also natives of Virginia. Dr. 
John Q. Winfield was a practicing physician who served as a captain in 
the Confederate army during the Civil War. He lived in Virginia all his 
life, dying about 1900, his widow surviving until about 1918. 

Turner A. Winfield was reared in his native community and acquired 
his education at the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, Virginia. In 
1888 he came to the State of Florida and he has remained a resident of the 
State since that time. He located first at Sanford and soon afterward be- 
came identified with the Southern Express Company at Sanford and later 
at Jacksonville. He served the company in various capacities, his last con- 
nection being as private secretary to the division superintendent. He came 
to Miami in 1896, the memorable year of the city's foundation. He bought 
a place at Little River and planted a grove, and also acted as the represen- 
tative of the express company at that point for a period of five or six 
years. He still retains his grove, which is one of the best in Dade County, 
and his home is situated there, though much of his business is in Miami. 
The grove comprises thirty-five acres and is devoted to grape fruit culture. 
About 1911 Mr. Winfield became active in real estate development work. 
As president of the Highland Park Company he opened and sold the eighty- 
acre subdivision known as Highland Park, one of the attractive subdivisions 
of the city. He was also president of the Winfield Packing Company about 
1910-1914, handling and shipping fruits and vegetables. He is now presi- 
dent of the Winfield Investment Company, one of the reliable concerns of 
the city, engaged in real estate and investment properties. He has the 
distinction of having been the first president of the Miami Realty Board, 
having been one of the organizers of that body in 1920. Mr. Winfield was 
elected as a member of the Board of Commissioners of Dade County about 
1906 and served as chairman of the board during his term. He also served 

186 




T. A. WINFIELD 



a second term as commissioner, being appointed in 1909 at the time the 
county was divided. His official record was that of a conscientious public 
servant who had at all times the interest of the public at heart. As chair- 
man of the board of county commissioners he rendered particularly val- 
uable service to the county in connection with the construction of twenty 
miles of rock road between Fort Lauderdale and Delray. He made an agree- 
ment with the officials of the Florida East Coast Railway whereby their 
cooperation was secured in building this road, the railroad company pro- 
viding an engine and two crews on the main line of the road without 
expense to the county providing the road was completed in a specified time, 
which was done. This saved Dade County about twenty thousand dollars 
in the cost of the train sei^vice alone, and is a notable achievement to the 
credit of Mr. Winfield. 

Mr. Winfield married, March 24, 1893, Rita Strayer, of Richmond, 
Vii'ginia, and they have one daughter, Antoinette. Fraternally he is a 
member of the Elks. He is universally recognized as a splendid citizen, a 
man of character and ability, and is regarded as one of the substantial 
men of the community who has had a worthy part in the growth and 
development of the city and county. 

BEN SHEPARD 

Ben Shepard, clei'k of the circuit court of Dade County and one of the 
most popular officials the county has ever had as well as one of the most 
enterprising and public-spirited citizens of Miami, is a native of West 
Boyleston, Massachusetts, born May 31, 1887. He is a son of Charles 
Albion and Addie Clara (Doyle) Shepard, residents of Hudson, New Hamp- 
shire. Mr. Shepard was five years of age when he accompanied his parents 
from Massachusetts to Hudson, and there he spent his youth, acquiring 
his education in the public schools. He was later graduated from the 
Nashua (N. H.) high school and supplemented this by two and one-half 
years at Middlebury College of Vermont. At the age of eighteen he entered 
the employ of the Boston & Maine Railroad at Nashua as a yard clerk and 
retained that position until August, 1906, when he came to Florida and 
settled in Jacksonville, becoming a clerk in the office of B. F. Dillon, late 
superintendent of the Western Union Telegraph Company in that city. 
In the fall of the same year Mr. Shepard entered the employ of the South- 
ern Express Company and was sent to Miami where he worked in the 
interests of that concern until March, 1908, when he resigned to become 
deputy clerk of the Dade County criminal court of record. He served for 
three years as deputy and was elected to that office in November, 1912, 
for a four-year term. In 1916 he was elected clerk of the circuit court of 
Dade County and re-elected in 1920. He has proven able, conscientious 
and discriminating in the discharge of his official duties, and to say that he 

187 



is one of the most popular officials the county has ever had is but stating a 
fact widely recognized and acknowledged. 

Mr. Shepard married, June 7, 1911, Mary K. Worley, daughter of 
Judge George A. Worley, of Miami. Fraternally Mr. Shepard is affiliated 
with the Bevenolent Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows. He is a man of fine executive and administrative ability 
and a progressive citizen interested in the well-being of the community 
and to the advancement of its normal and legitimate growth. 

CRATE D. BOWEN 

Crate D. Bowen, member of the law finn of Shutts & Bowen, whose 
connection with much important litigation establishes his position as one 
of the ablest members of the Dade County Bar, is a native of Union City, 
Indiana. He is a son of Ephraim H. and Rachel (Cadwallader) Bowen, 
both of whom also were natives of the State of Indiana. Ephraim H. 
Bowen is a prominent Indiana manufacturer who spends a portion of 
his time in Miami. Mr. Bowen acquired a public school education at 
Union City, Indiana, graduating from the high school of that city. His 
collegiate training was received at Butler Univei'sity, Indianapolis, where 
he was a member of the Class of 1894. He read law in the office of Theo- 
dore Shockney, one of the leaders of the Indiana Bar, at Union City, 
Indiana, and was admitted to the Bar at Union City. He began his pro- 
fessional practice in the city of Indianapolis,, where he was engaged in 
independent practice until his appointment by Mayor Charles A. Book- 
waiter as city attorney of Indianapolis. He served as city attorney for 
a period of four years, from 1906 to 1910, and his ability, knowledge and 
conscientiousness of service placed him in the front rank of the legal pro- 
fession in Indiana. Upon completion of his official tenure he formed a 
professional association with Hon. Caleb S. Denny, former mayor of Indian- 
apolis, which continued for a period of two years. On January 1, 1912, 
he formed his present connection with Frank B. Shutts as a member of 
the firm of Shutts & Bowen, recognized as one of the strongest law fii-ms 
in Florida. The firm occupies what is perhaps the finest equipped law 
offices in the State and has been identified with much of the important 
litigation of this section. 

Mr. Bowen married Jessamine B. Boilvin, of New Albany, Indiana, 
and they have one daughter, Betty. Fraternally he is a Mason, being a 
member of Oriental Lodge, Indianapolis. He is also affiliated with In- 
dianapolis Lodge No. 56, Knights of Pythias, and is a member of the Grand 
Lodge of the Knights of Pythias of Florida. His clubs include the Marion 
Club, of Indianapolis; the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club, the Country Club 
and the Anglers' Club, of Miami. He possesses to a marked degree the 
qualities which distinguish the able, painstaking lawyer, and he is, more- 
over, a public-spirited citizen whose influence is a tangible force for civic 
improvement. 

188 



GEORGE L. GRILEY 

George L. Griley, president of the Monad Electric Company, Miami, 
and one of the progressive young business men of the city, engaged as a 
real estate broker and the owner and developer of important residential 
properties, is a native of the State of Ohio, born at Zanesville, that State, 
December 14, 1884. He is a son of Michael A. and Elizabeth D. (Dillon) 
Griley, the former a native of the State of Ohio and the later of Minne- 
sota. The Griley family genealogy may be traced to the time of the land- 
ing of the Mayflower, and the family is related to some of the notable men 
of history. Michael A. Griley removed to Miami in 1914 and is here 
actively engaged in the real estate business. 

George L. Griley was educated in the public schools of Zanesville, 
Ohio, and this was supplemented by a course in engineering construction. 
He was, for seven years, connected with the engineering department of the 
Panama Railroad Company, being located at Ancon, Canal Zone, Panama, 
and having the responsibility of important engineering tasks in that re- 
public. He came to Miami January 29, 1913, and engaged in the real 
estate business. Later he entered the construction field, in which line he 
has achieved a substantial success. He is also president of the Monad 
Electric Company, a retail concern of recognized standing. Mr. Griley 
is one of the active and public-spirited young business men of Miami and 
a serviceable factor in the expansion and material advancement of the city. 

FRED W. VANDERPOOL 

Fred W. Vanderpool, general insurance broker and one of the suc- 
cessful young business men of Miami, is a native of Florida, born Sep- 
tember 25, 1884. He is a son of Isaac and Harriet (Langman) Vander- 
pool, the former a native of Holland and the latter of England. Isaac 
Vanderpool was one of the first settlers near Orlando, Florida, where he 
lived for forty years and where his death occurred. His widow still re- 
sides there. Fred W. Vanderpool was reared at Orlando and received his 
primary education in the public schools. He later entered Rollins Col- 
lege, Winter Park, Florida, from which he graduated in 1904. He is also 
a graduate from the commercial college at Winter Park. He began his 
independent career at Atlanta, Georgia, where he took up newspaper 
work, having charge of the Atlanta branch of The Insurance Field, a large 
and influential trade journal devoted to the interests of the insurance 
field. He was thus engaged for a period of four years, after which he 
removed to Jacksonville, Florida, and became a special agent for Florida 
for several large insurance companies. He came to Miami in 1915 and 
entered the field of business as a general insurance broker, representing 
a number of the large and important companies. By force of his ability 
and his straightforward methods he has built up a lucrative patronage 

189 



and attained a substantial success, and he is numbered among the most 
active, enterprising and progressive young business men of the city. He 
is also assistant secretary of the Fidelity Mortgage and Guarantee Com- 
pany, a corporation with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars, and 
is the owner of valuable real estate property at Martland, Florida,, where 
he has a forty-acre orange grove. 

Mr. Vanderpool is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the 
Elks. He has many friends among the representative and successful men 
of the city, in whose ranks he stands. His interests are thoroughly identi- 
fied with those of Miami and he takes an active interest in movements 
calculated to advance the general development. 

FRANK B. SHUTTS 

Ranking with the most distinguished members of the bar of Florida, 
Frank B. Shutts is equally noted as a citizen whose connection with im- 
portant business and corporate interests has influenced the material and 
civic progress of the community. He holds distinctive precedence as one 
of the most progressive and successful men that ever inaugurated and 
carried to praiseworthy termination large and important undertakings 
in this locality. Strong mental powers, invincible courage and a determined 
purpose have so entered into his composition as to render him a dominant 
factor in the business world and a leader of men in large enterprises. A 
lawyer of exalted ability, enjoying a large professional success, he is also 
a public-spirited citizen who easily ranks with the most influential of his 
compeers in affairs looking toward the betterment of his chosen city and 
county. 

Frank B. Shutts was born in Dearborn County, Indiana, September 
11, 1870. He is a son of Indiana pioneers, of that splendid stock that has 
created an empire out of the wilderness. His father, Abram P. Shutts, 
was born in 1841, and his mother, Amanda (Barker) Shutts, was born in 
1845. Frank B. Shutts attended the public schools at Aurora, Indiana, 
and was graduated from the high school of that city in 1887. His col- 
legiate training was acquired at DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, 
from which institution he was graduated in 1892 with the degree of LL. B. 
He began his professional career at Aurora, Indiana, where he soon estab- 
lished a large and representative clientele. He served for several years 
as general counsel for a number of important business and corporate 
interests of Indiana, and was also identified in a business way with im- 
portant public utility concerns of that State. He came to Miami in 1909, 
establishing a law office here and becoming the legal representative of 
Heniy M. Flagler, of the Florida East Coast Railway Company and of its 
subsidiary interests in south Florida. On January 1, 1912, he formed a 
professional association with William P. Smith and Crate D. Bowen and 

190 



organized the firm of Shutts, Smith & Bowen (afterward succeeded by 
Shutts & Bowen), which is rated as one of the strongest law firms in 
Florida, and is retained in much of the important litigation of this section. 
In 1910 Mr. Shutts organized The Miami Herald Publishing Company, 
owner and publisher of The Miami Herald, one of the leading daily news- 
papers of Florida, and he is president of the corporation and its principal 
stockholder. He is president of the South Atlantic Telephone & Telegraph 
Company, a director of the First National Bank of Miami, and is a mem- 
ber of the board of directors of more than a score of other important 
Florida corporations. In addition he is one of the progressive and dis- 
tinguished leaders in local politics and his work and influence has affected 
many important phases of community development, bringing to him a 
prominent place among the leaders in the direction of public thought and 
opinion. 

Mr. Shutts married, June 8, 1910, Agnes B. John, of Aurora, Indiana, 
and they have two daughters, Marion and Elinor. The family home is at 
Point View, on Biscayne Bay. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church and his fraternal aflJiliations are with the Masons and the Elks. 
He is also a member of the Phi Gamma Delta college fraternity. He is 
treasurer of the Miami Young Men's Christian Association, and is a mem- 
ber of the Associated Press, the National Editorial Association, and the 
Florida State Editorial and Publishers Associations. He is also a member 
of the American Bar Association, the Florida State Bar Association, the 
Dade County Bar Association, the American Society of International Law, 
and the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. His clubs include the 
Miami Rotary Club of which he is a former president, Biscayne Bay 
Yacht Club, Miami Country Club, Miami Beach Golf Club and Miami Beach 
Polo Club. He is a man of cosmopolitan culture, broad and liberal views 
and eflfective public spirit who gives earnest support to all movements 
which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride. 

JUDGE W. F. BLAXTON 

Judge W. F. Blanton, County Judge of Dade County, was born in 
Hillsboro County, Florida, January 4, 1891, and is a son of J. F. and 
Ellen H. (Harn) Blanton, the former a native of Georgia and the latter 
of Florida. The family removed from Tampa to Miami about sixteen 
years ago, where the father now resides, the mother dying February 23, 
1920. 

Judge Blanton received his primary education in the schools of Tampa 
and Largo, Florida. Upon the removal of the family to Miami he entered 
the schools here, and graduated from the Miami High School, class of 
1909. The following year he entered Washington and Lee University, 
graduating from the law department of that institution in 1911. He 
engaged in professional practice in Miami until 1915, when he was elected 

191 



Municipal Judge. He re-election to this office followed in 1917, but after 
he had served about half of his second term he was appointed County Judge 
by Governor Catts to fill the unexpired term of Judge S. J. Barco. At 
the ensuing election in November, 1918, he was duly elected to fill the 
unexpired term, expiring December 31, 1920, and at the election in No- 
vember, 1920, was elected for the regular term of four years, beginning 
January 1, 1921. Judge Blanton has the distinction of being the youngest 
County Judge ever chosen in Dade County. His fine professional training, 
his uniform fairness and integrity, as well as his conscientious discharge of 
eveiy duty, have gained for him an honorable official record. 

Judge Blanton was married February 14, 1916, to Lizanna V. Robin- 
son, of Kansas City, Kansas, and they have two children: W. F. Blanton, 
Jr., and John Robinson Blanton. 

JOHN LEOPOLD NORTH, M. D. 

A thorough knowledge of the underlying principles of medicine sup- 
plementing a broad and comprehensive general education, a deep realiza- 
tion of the true and ultimate purposes of life, a sense of responsibility 
and a broad and vital humanitarian instinct — these are the qualities 
which make Dr. John Leopold North one of the leading physicians and 
surgeons in Miami and which have placed him in a high position in the 
ranks of the medical fraternity in the State of Florida. 

Dr. North was born in Fort McPherson, Nebraska, December 29, 
1865, and is a son of Justus S. North, a native of Clarendon, New York, 
born March 2, 1835, of English parentage. The father went to Nebraska 
in 1858 and followed general merchandising in that State for ten years, 
removing at the end of that time to Saginaw, Michigan, and thence to 
Putnam County, Florida. He took up his residence in this State in 
1872 and was one of the pioneer orange growers in the vicinity of Put- 
nam, becoming in time a leading grower of citrus fruits. He there de- 
veloped one of the best orange groves in the State and had gained a posi- 
tion of prominence and importance when the great frost of 1895 de- 
stroyed all his trees. He died in Putnam County in 1905. His wife, who 
was Nancy Grace Ripsom, was born in Brockport, New York, in 1837, of 
Holland descent. She died in Putnam County, Florida, in 1894, leaving 
two children, besides the subject of this review, namely: Katherine J., 
now Mrs. John Dallow, of Putnam County, Florida, and Sophia Isabelle, 
who married Haley C. Woodford, of Avon, Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. 
Justus S. North had two other children, now deceased, namely: Maud, 
who married Joseph Woodford, of Avon, Connecticut, a brother of Haley 
C. Woodford, and Caroline, who died in infancy. 

Dr. North was nine years of age when his parents came to Florida 
and located in Putnam County. His mother, who had been a teacher, 
was largely responsible for his early education, being aided in her work 

192 




J. L. NORTH. M. D. 



by one of her older daughters. Later Dr. North was sent to the Florida 
public schools, which, however, were at that time very crude. The pro- 
fession of medicine had always attracted him and the desire to follow 
it influenced his early reading to an important extent, causing the sub- 
stitution for the usual fiction and history of works on anatomy and 
physiology. At a very early age he entered upon the study of medicine 
under the preceptorship of Dr. George Welsh, of Palatka, Florida, and he 
later attended the University of Louisville, from which he was graduated 
in 1894. He immediately began the practice of his profession in Inter- 
lachen, Putnam County, but shortly afterward removed to Palatka, where 
he remained until the great frost of 1895 almost paralyzed business con- 
ditions throughout the State and aflfected inevitably general conditions. 
Seeking a broader field. Dr. North went to Connecticut and for eight 
years carried on the general practice of his profession in Avon, serving 
also as health officer. From Avon he went to Hartford and after two 
years to East Hampton, Connecticut, where he remained for four years. 
After fifteen years of continuous practice in the State of Connecticut 
he returned to Florida and in 1909 located at Miami, where he has since 
occupied a foremost place in professional circles. He has constantly kept 
abreast with the advancement of his profession, taking a number of 
post-graduate courses in the New York Polyclinic and the New York 
Post-Graduate School, and supplementing his study by individual inves- 
tigation and research. His natural ability has expanded and developed 
through the years as his professional knowledge has become wider, 
deeper and more comprehensive and he is today one of the most able and 
successful physicians in this section of the State, enjoying a lucrative 
and representative patronage. 

Dr. North married, on April 5, 1885, Alice Coy, a native of New 
Brunswick, who was reared in Minnesota, and was a resident of Pomona, 
Florida, at the time of her marriage. Dr. and Mrs. North have five 
children: Alice Mercedes, who married Thomas B. Finley, of South Man- 
chester, Connecticut ; Henry Ripson ; John Leopold, Jr. ; Crandall J., and 
Geraldine. 

Dr. North is a member of the Episcopal church and fraternally is 
connected with the Masonic order and the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows. Along professional lines he belongs to the Dade County Medi- 
cal Society, of which he has served as president, and the Florida State 
and Southern Medical Associations. In addition to his large private 
practice he was for ten years city physician of Miami and superintendent 
of the Miami City Hospital, these connections indicating something of 
his high professional standing in the regard of his fellow townsmen. 

193 



MRS. MINNIE HILL MARCH 

It is seldom, indeed, that a woman possesses such conspicuous or- 
ganizing and executive ability, such a power of coordinating, planning 
and systematizing and such general business efficiency as is displayed 
by Mrs. Minnie Hill March in her capable management of the Hotel 
Halcyon in Miami. She is vice-president of the operating company and 
half owner in the concern, and the remarkable growth which the institu- 
tion has made is due largely to her efforts since she assumed control as 
managing director in 1911. Mrs. March was born in Greene County, 
Ohio, October 17, 1868, and is a daughter of Gilbert Walker Hill, a native 
of Virginia and a farmer by occupation. With his parents he moved 
from Virginia to Greene County when he was still a child and grew 
to maturity there, becoming one of the successful and prominent farmers 
of that section of the State. He now makes his home in Miami, having 
retired. He married Minerva Anstace McFarland, also a native of Greene 
County, Ohio. The Hill family is of old Revolutionary stock and, in fact, 
on both sides Mrs. March is eligible to membership in the Daughters of 
the American Revolution and in the Colonial Dames. 

Mrs. March spent her girlhood on her father's farm in Greene County, 
Ohio, and on August 17, 1889, married William Everard March. He was 
bom in Chillicothe, Ohio, June 24, 1858, and was the son of Edwin Everard 
March, a representative of an old English family and a direct descendant 
of the Earl of March, once the rightful heir to the English throne. The 
family coat of arms shows the noble lineage and the family's position in 
England was for many generations supported by the great wealth of its 
members. William Everard March was a farmer and fruit grower by occu- 
pation and immediately after his marriage moved with his wife to Center 
Hill, Florida, where he purchased a bearing fruit grove and started new 
trees on another tract of land. The great frost of 1895, however, destroyed 
all his trees and influenced Mr. March in his determination to remove 
further south. Accordingly, in August, 1895, he came to Dade County, 
Florida, and started a fruit grove ten miles south of the present site of 
Miami, the town at that time having not yet been founded. Mr. March 
made a thorough study of everything relating to his line of business and 
was recognized as a standard authority on tropical fruit cultivation, be- 
ing often called upon by agents of the United States Government for 
data on this subject. In addition to being one of the pioneers in the 
growing of citrus fruits in Dade County he was also extensively interested 
in local real estate, acquiring large and important holdings. He died 
May 13, 1911, leaving his widow and one daughter, Winifred Lucile. An- 
other daughter, Augusta Belton, died in infancy. 

After the death of her husband Mrs. March found herself dependent 
upon her own resources and with rare courage she determined to enter 
the business world. With two associates she purchased the Halcyon Hall 

194 



Hotel in Miami, a fine modern hostelry and undoubtedly one of the most 
popular resort hotels in Florida. Mrs. March's partners being non-resi- 
dents, she took active charge of the enterprise, changing the name to 
Hotel Halcyon, a title under which it is now conducted. She has en- 
larged its capacity, made many improvements in equipment and furnish- 
ings and since assuming charge has thoroughly superintended all details 
of management, leaving nothing undone to make the hotel modern and 
luxurious in every respect. Located in the very heart of Miami, con- 
structed according to a unique and beautiful design, the Hotel Halcyon is 
one of the most picturesque and attractive places in the city which it adorns 
and beautifies. Although built along modern lines and lavishly furnished 
at the outset, the hotel was not successful from a financial standpoint 
in the beginning, four expert hotel men having made a failure of its man- 
agement. It remained for Mrs. March to put it upon a profitable basis 
and to so direct its operation that it is today not only a large, beautiful 
and attractive hostelry, but a profitable and well-managed enterprise as 
well. 

Mrs. March is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Miami, 
in which her husband was a ruling elder, and she is interested in religious 
work and always ready to aid in the promotion of church expansion. She 
has not allowed her business success to detract in any way from her 
charming personality and is an attractive and broad-minded woman, who 
has proven her ability in the splendid results which have attended her 
labors. 

HARLAN A. TRAPP 

A pioneer citizen of Dade County whose long residence here and whose 
intimate knowledge of events reveals much that is interesting as a con- 
tribution to the history of the community, is Harlan A. Trapp, of Coconut 
Grove. Mr. Trapp came to Dade County in 1886 and has been continu- 
ously identified with the community since that yeai'. His father came hei'e 
one year later, and the family has helped to make much of the unwritten 
history of that section. 

Harlan A. Trapp was born at Pella, Iowa, March 4, 1869, and is a 
son of Caleb L. and Henrietta (Rhodes) Trapp, the fonner a native of the 
State of New York and the latter of Ohio. Caleb L. Trapp drove mules on 
the old Erie Canal, and went to Iowa after the Civil War, settling first at 
Mt. Pleasant and later at Pella. He was a merchant and brick mason. 
He came to Florida in 1887, settling near Coconut Grove. Here he built 
a house out of the native rock, which was the first stone house built in this 
section, excepting old Fort Dallas. He cut the stone, burned the lime and 
built the house after he was seventy years of age, as a practical demon- 
stration of the possibilities of using the native stone for building purposes. 
The famous Trapp avocada pear, known to horticulturists the world over, 

195 



owes its origin and name to the Trapp family. They planted the seed and 
cultivated the plant. Mrs. Henrietta Trapp, mother of Harlan A. Trapp, 
taught the first country school in Coconut Grove. Caleb L. Trapp and his 
wife continued to reside in Coconut Grove the rest of their lives, he dying 
in 1894 and she in 1900. 

Harlan A. Trapp was reared in Pella, Iowa, and acquired a public 
school education there and at Atlantic, Iowa, where he went when fifteen 
years of age. He came to Florida in November, 1886, when he was eighteen 
years of age, locating at Coconut Grove, where he has since continued to 
reside. When he became of age he took up a homestead below Coconut 
Grove and conducted a small starch mill of his own, starch making being 
the principal method of making money in those early days. Later he en- 
gaged in the general contracting and building business, which he success- 
fully followed for a number of years. He constructed a number of the 
important buildings of Miami, including the Miami Bank & Trust Com- 
pany building, the Townley building, the Dr. Skaggs building and the 
Havlin building, the latter being the first reinforced concrete building put 
up in Miami. He also built the Four-way Lodge for W. J. Matheson, as 
well as other important properties. Mr. Trapp's home near Coconut Grove 
is situated on Biscayne Bay and is a valuable estate of ten acres. 

Mr. Trapp married August 13, 1895, Minnie B. Hobart, a native of 
Iowa, in which State they were married. Mrs. Trapp is prominent in 
club life and social circles of Coconut Grove and Miami, being a member 
of the Audubon Club, the Miami Woman's Club and the Miami Musical 
Club. 

HENRY J. PEACOCK 

Henry J. Peacock,, identified with mercantile interests of Miami since 
1912, is a son of one of Dade county's earliest pioneers, his father, Charles 
Peacock, having settled in old Fort Dallas, on the present site of the City 
of Miami, in 1875. Charles Peacock and his wife, who was Isabella Saun- 
ders, were both natives of England. They came in early life to America 
and settled in Dade County, Florida, where for a number of years the 
father engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1882 they moved to Coconut 
Grove, where he became prominent in public life, holding several posi- 
tions, including those of postmaster, justice of the peace and notary 
public. He died September 23,, 1906, and is survived by his wife, who 
makes her home in Coconut Grove. 

Henry J. Peacock was bom in Huntingdonshire, England, March 30, 
1852, and was still a child when he came to America with his parents 
and he settled with them in Dade County in 1875. For ten years there- 
after he remained at home and during this period, which was long before 
the railroad was built to Miami, worked in the old starch factory which 
in those early times was located on the left fork of the Miami River, three 
miles from its mouth. In 1885 Mr. Peacock left Coconut Grove and went 

196 



to Key West, where for twenty-five years he engaged in merchandising, 
becoming a prosperous and successful man. In 1912 he returned to Miami, 
finding on the site of the old fort a large and flourishing city. Here he 
established himself in the men's furnishings business at 912 Avenue D, 
where he erected for himself a large two-story reinforced concrete building, 
twenty-five by eighty-seven feet in dimensions and thoroughly modern 
and up-to-date in furnishing and equipment. Here he has built up a large 
and lucrative patronage, which has been accorded him in recognition of 
his practical business methods, his honorable and straight-forward deal- 
ings and his unfailing courtesy to patrons. 

Mr. Peacock married, October 30, 1889, Mary Stirrup, who at that 
time resided in Key West, but who is a native of Nas.sau, Bahama Islands. 
They have two sons: Harry Bolton and Milton Osborne. Mr. Peacock, 
while a resident of Key West, served for four years as a member of the 
city council. In Miami he is regarded as one of the solid, substantial men 
of the community and a citizen whose public spirit and enterprise have 
contributed to the municipal growth and development of the community. 

JOHN W. HITINIPHREYS 

John W. Humphreys, one of the active and energetic business men 
of Miami, extensively engaged as a real estate and insurance broker, is 
a native of Thomasville, Thomas County, Georgia, born May 31, 1888. He 
is a son of James A. and Nancy J. (Redfearn) Humphreys, both of whom 
were natives of the Carolinas, and both are now deceased. James A. 
Humphreys was a successful contractor. Mr. Humphreys' grandfathers, 
on both the paternal and maternal sides, served as oflicers during the Civil 
War. 

John W. Humphreys was educated in the public and high schools of 
Moultrie, Georgia, and other Georgia points, supplemented by training at 
the Stanley Business College, at Macon, Georgia. In 1906 he came to 
Gadsken County, Florida, where he took up general office work in con- 
nection with the tobacco industry. He was associated in that line and 
in the lumber business for a number of years, residing at Havana, Florida, 
and later at Tallahassee, Florida. Removing to Jacksonville, Florida, he 
entered the insurance field, fomiing a connection with one of the largest 
companies of that city. On Januaiy 1, 1913, he came to Miami, and here 
established a general real estate and insurance brokerage business, in which 
line he has been eminently successful. He represents the higher grade 
business and residential properties and investments and transacts 
a general insurance business, covering all lines of insurance. 

Mr. Humphreys was married December 26, 1916, to Mildred Beck- 
with, daughter of W. H. Beckwith, one of the pioneer residents of Tampa, 
Florida. Mrs. Humphreys' mother came from Charleston, South Carolina, 
and is a descendant of Joshua Reynolds, the noted painter. Mr. Humph- 

197 



reys is an active member of the Miami Realty Board and the Miami Cham- 
ber of Commerce. He is one of the well-known and progressive young 
business men of the city, and takes a commendable interest in all move- 
ments to promote the intellectual and material welfare of the community. 

WILLIA]M GEORGE PERRY 

William George Perry, identified with important mercantile interests 
of Miami in the ownership of four leading drug stores, and one of the 
most far-sighted, discriminating and resourceful business men of the 
city, is a native of Milledgeville, Georgia, born June 10, 1865. He is a son 
of Henry and Ellen (Blake) Perry, both of whom were natives of Ireland, 
the former born in County Tipperary and the latter a native of County 
Kerry. Henry Perry came to America with his parents when he was still 
a young man. He was a veteran of the Civil War, having served in the 
Confederate army during that conflict, and for many years thereafter he 
was identified with business interests of Milledgeville as a member of the 
firm of Perry & Denton, merchants. He died in 1893. He married in 
Macon, Georgia, in 1859, Ellen Blake, who came to America with her 
parents at an early age. She died in 1895. Of the children born to their 
union two still survive besides the subject of this sketch: Dr. Thomas B. 
Perry, who was for twenty years a surgeon in the United States Marine 
Hospital service and who is now a practicing physician in Miami ; and Mrs. 
Andrew R. Miller, the wife of the superintendent of the Peninsular and 
Occidental service between Port Tampa and Havana. 

William George Perry was reared and educated in Milledgeville, 
Georgia, and at the age of eighteen became identified with the drug busi- 
ness as clerk in a drug store in that city. He has been continuously identi- 
fied with this line of work in various capacities from that time to the 
present, a period of thirty-nine years. Beginning as a clerk, he was soon 
advanced to prescription clerk, and served in this capacity for many years, 
during which time he was connected with several of the largest drug 
stores in many of the leading cities of the South, including Milledgeville, 
Atlanta, Macon, Columbus and Savannah, in Georgia, and Jacksonville, 
West Palm Beach and Miami, in Florida. He came to Miami in 1903, and 
for nearly three years thereafter was prescription clerk in the Biscayne 
Pharmacy. In 1906 he was requested to accept the presidency of the 
Red Cross Pharmacy, Incorporated, a company which owned the Red 
Cross Pharmacy, one of the largest drug stores in the city. The afi'airs of 
the corporation had become greatly entangled and Mr. Perry, already one 
of the leading druggists of the city, was solicited by the stockholders to 
become president of the corporation and take charge of the business. He 
assumed management of the Red Cross Pharmacy and within a few years 
paid off all indebtedness and put the concern in a flourishing condition. 

198 




W. G. PERRY 



In 1912 Mr. Perry purchased the entire stock of the concern and became 
sole owner, dissolving the former corporation. In addition to Perry's Red 
Cross Pharmacy, he has since established Perry's Home Drug Store, 
Perry's Albemarle Pharmacy, and Perry's Causeway Pharmacy at Miami 
Beach, comprising four of the leading drug stores of the community, all of 
which enjoy a representative patronage. All four stoi'es are ideally located, 
abundantly stocked and modernly equipped, and the most discriminating 
service is maintained through a staff of registered clerks and prescription 
specialists. 

Mr. Perry is president of the Florida State Pharmaceutical Asso- 
ciation, having been chosen for this honor at their annual convention June 
16, 1921. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order 
of Elks. He is a member of the Miami Chamber of Commerce and is at 
all times active in the promotion of the general interests of the city. 
During the Spanish-American war in 1898 he served as a private in - 
Company F, First Florida Regiment, and after being mustered out at 
Huntsville, Alabama, he re-enlisted in the Sea Coast Artillery at Fort 
Morgan, Alabama, and was soon afterward transferred to the Hospital 
Corps and ordered to the Philippine Islands, where he served two years 
and nine months. To his many friends in Miami Mr. Perry is familiarly 
known as Dr. Perry and the name stands as a synonym for progressive 
citizenship, unusual business ability and an integrity which is beyond all 
question. 

HERBERT H. MASE 

Herbert H. Mase, secretary of the Gralynn Hotel Company, Incor- 
porated, Miami, and connected with other important corporate interests 
with the management of which he is actively identified, is a hotel man of 
extensive experience and wide popularity. As one of the managers of the 
Gralynn Hotel, he has been intimately associated with business interests 
of Miami for a number of years, and his knowledge and ability may be 
seen in the successful management of this popular hostelry. 

Mr. Mase is a native of New York, born in Prattsville, Greene County, 
that State, September 10, 1876. He is a son of Theodore M. and Emily 
(Frayer) Mase, both of whom were also natives of New York State. The 
father still resides at Prattsville, New York. He is 78 years of age and is 
a retired farmer and cattle buyer. Herbert H. Mase was reared on a farm 
near Prattsville, New York, and acquired a country school education. He 
worked as farmer boy from the time he was nine years of age until he was 
sixteen. He then went to New York city and secured employment with 
the St. George Hotel as a general man. Two years later he was given 
charge of the ofiice. He was connected with the hotel for a period of four 
years. He then became clerk of the criminal court of special sessions of 
New York city, serving in this capacity for a period of twelve years, fol- 

199 



lowing which he operated two hotels in Stamford, New York. During the 
winter of 1908-1909 he came to Miami and became associated with Salem 
Graham in connection with the Gralynn Hotel, with which institution he 
has since been actively identified. In 1920 the Gralynn Hotel Company, a 
corporation, was formed and took over the property interests of Salem 
Graham. Mr. Mase is a director and secretary of this corporation. The 
Gralynn Hotel, formerly the Everglades, was purchased by Mr. Salem 
Graham in 1908 and renamed the Gralynn. In 1914 an addition of two 
wings containing 90 rooms was added. In 1919 the old frame house was 
remodelled, two stories added and new wing added on the west. The 
building is a modern, six-story, concrete structure located in the heart of 
Miami, and is one of the most popular high-class hotels of the South. 

Mr. Mase has other large and important hotel interests. He is secre- 
tary, treasurer and director of the Rexmere-Churchill Hall Association, 
Incoi-porated, operating Churchill Hall and Rexmere Club Hotels, both 
located at Stamford-in-the-Catskills, New York. These hotels have a com- 
bined capacity for a thousand guests. Located in the famous Catskill 
region, they are conceded to be among the most popular summer resorts 
of the North. Mr. Mase also conducts there a cottage colony. 

Fraternally Mr. Mase is a member of the Masons and the Elks. He is 
vice-president of the Miami Hotel Men's Association and a director of the 
Catskill Mountain Hotel Men's Association. He is also a member of the 
New York State Hotel Men's Association. He is a charter member of the 
Miami Anglers Club, also Catskill Mountain Rod and Gun Club, a member 
of the Miami Motor Club and the Miami County Club, as well as a member 
of the Miami Chamber of Commerce. He is popular in the social and busi- 
ness life of Miami, and as a public-spirited citizen takes a commendable 
interest in the city's growth and development. 

GEORGE B. CELLOX 

Tropical fruit cultivation is unquestionably one of the principal pro- 
ductive soui'ces of Florida and the men who are active in its development 
are among the factors in the upbuilding and growth of the commonwealth. 
In the list of those men of Dade County who are identified with this highly 
specialized industry certain names stand forth conspicuously by reason of 
what their owners have accomplished and their manner of securing results. 
George B. Cellon, of Miami, is a pioneer in the commercial cultivation of 
the avocado and mango, his experience with fruit culture covering a period 
of over twenty years, and he perhaps more than any other man in Dade 
County is qualified to discuss the difficulties, as well as the advantages, in 
extensive fruit culture. His tropical grove near Miami was established in 
1901, and there the most extensive experiments have been carried on in 
connection with the testing of commercial varieties of mangos and 

200 



avocados. There was only one avocado produced by budding or grafting 
in the world of record when Mr. Cellon came here, and now there are pos- 
sibly several thousand acres of budded trees of commercial varieties of 
avocados in Florida, Cuba and the West Indies. Mr. Cellon has been con- 
nected with the tropical nursery business since a boy. He was born on a 
farm ten miles north of Gainesville, Florida, January 2, 1862, and is a son 
of John A. and Missenire (Sparkman) Cellon, the former a native of Metz, 
France, and the latter born in south Georgia. The maternal family is 
descendant from English colonists and the father from French stock. 
John A. Cellon settled in Florida in 1832, first in Tallahassee and some four 
or five years later settling on a farm near Gainesville, where he continued 
to reside until his death in 1881. He was the first man to plant citrus 
trees on the Florida peninsula and successfully conducted a small nursery, 
being one of the pioneers in the growing of nursery stock. He reared a 
family of eleven children on a farm of one hundred acres, and managed 
to give all of his children a fair education. His wife died in 1907. 

George B. Cellon was reared on the paternal farm and acquired his 
education in the public schools. He remained on the home farm until he 
was twenty-one years of age and then went to the town of Newnensville, 
where he worked as a clerk in a store for a period of two years. He then 
returned to his father's farm and nursery and soon afterward bought a 
small farm of his own. He later moved to Gainesville, where he was en- 
gaged in the nursery business until 1888, in which year he removed to 
Jacksonville and engaged in the wholesale grocery business covering a 
period of three years. Following this he was, for nine years, interested 
in the organization and promotion of several corporate enterprises. In 
1900 he came to Dade County and bought ten acres, intending to engage 
in fruit growing, but eventually engaged in the nursery business again. 
He has since increased his acreage to thirty acres and in 1908 built a sub- 
stantial residence. He devotes his energies principally to the cultivation of 
avocados and mangos, and he has been very successful with these products. 
He ships the fruit direct to the fruit and grocery trade and has a large 
sale for his nursery stock. He understands every phase of tropical cultiva- 
tion and is recognized as an authority on the cultivation of the avocado and 
the mango. He issues an interesting catalogue giving much valuable detail 
information regarding special varieties, and his tropical grove is one of the 
interesting show places near Miami. 

Mr. Cellon married first, February 8, 1881, Eva Bexley, who died in 
1892, leaving one child which has since died. In March, 1893, he married 
Lulu Palmquist, of Jacksonville, Florida, and to them was born one child, 
now deceased. A man of constructive intelligence, strong convictions and 
forceful personality, modern in his ideas and progressive in his standards, 
he has for many years wrought along progressive lines of development and 
his work has been of far-reaching value in adding to the general welfare. 

201 



PETER THOMAS SKAGGS, M. D. 

Dr. Peter Thomas Skaggs, who has been in the active practice of medi^ 
cine and surgery in Miami since the town was founded, stands today 
among the leading physicians of Florida, a State long noted for the high 
order of its medical talent. In addition to his long and creditable career in 
one of the most useful and exacting of professions he is also a public- 
spirited man of affairs and his large professional success affords a striking 
example of well-defined purpose with the ability to make that purpose 
subserve not only his own ends but the good of his fellowmen as well. 
As a pioneer physician Dr. Skaggs has had a notable part in the history of 
Miami, as his settlement here antedates the coming of the railroad and the 
foundation of the community and compasses the period of the city's great 
development. During the intervening years he has borne his full share 
of progressive work in the interest of community affairs and his influence 
and public-spirit have been elements in the city's material growth and in 
the advancement of its moral and intellectual status. 

Dr. Skaggs is a native of Nicholas County, West Virginia, born March 
6, 1869, and he is a son of Henry H. and Frances (Shaffer) Skaggs. Henry 
H. Skaggs served as a member of the Confederate army during the Civil 
War and lost a leg on the battlefield; his wife passed away in 1910. Dr. 
Skaggs was reared on a farm in Fayette County, West Virginia, and ac- 
quired his early education in the public schools of that State, later attend- 
ing the Summersville Normal School. After teaching for one term he 
entered the medical department of the University of Louisville, Kentucky, 
graduating therefrom with the degree of M. D. March 30, 1896. Since that 
time he has taken several post-graduate courses in New York city and in 
Europe. He located in Miami in the spring of 1896, a short time before 
the railroad was built into the town, and from that time to the present, 
with the exception of one year between 1897 and 1898, which he spent in 
Louisville, Kentucky, has been continuously in practice here, ranking 
among the foremost members of the profession. After the United States 
entered the great world war. Dr. Skaggs' professional skill was comman- 
deered and he was called to military duty. He was commissioned a first 
lieutenant, United States Medical Corps, in 1917. Soon after this he was 
appointed a member of the Medical Advisory Board for the Fourth District 
of Florida and served as Chairman of this board until May, 1918. He was 
ordered to New York city in October, 1918, and assigned to duty in the 
office of the surgeon, port of embarkation. New York city, serving in this 
capacity until February 1, 1919. He was then transferred to the Hospital 
Train Service and served in that line of duty until his honorable discharge 
in December, 1919. 

Dr. Skaggs married, January 29, 1896, Kate C. Barger, of Louisville, 
Kentucky, and they are both popular in social circles. Dr. Skaggs is a 
member of the Masonic order, being a Knights Templar and a Shriner, and 

202 




p. T. SKAGGS, M. D. 



he is affiliated also with the Elks. He is a member of the Dade County 
and the Florida State Medical Society, and the Southern and American 
Medical Association, and in this way keeps in touch with the most ad- 
vanced thought of the profession, of which he is a distinguished and able 
representative. A man of fine academic training, liberal culture and broad 
public spirit, he holds a high place in professional circles of the State and 
foremost rank among the progressive citizens of Miami whose ac- 
complished work has been a substantial contribution to the general welfare. 

JOHN W. WATSON 

The life of John W. Watson has been so varied in its activities, so 
honorable in its purposes and so far-reaching and beneficial in its effects 
that it has become an integral part of the history of Miami and Dade 
County and has also left an impress upon the annals of the State. His 
work has closely touched political development, for he is an ex-member of 
the Florida house of representatives and a man who has by able, far-sighted 
and discriminating work in the public service taken a high place among 
the leaders in constructive statesmanship. He was born in Newbern, 
North Carolina, October 31, 1858, and is a son of John W. and Janet (Mc- 
Cubbin) Watson, natives of Nottaway County, Virginia. Their marriage 
occurred in that State and they afterward removed to North Carolina, 
where their son, the subject of this review, was born. The father was of 
English ancestry and aided the Confederate cause during the Civil War, 
serving as a non-commissioned officer in the southern army. He was a 
merchant by occupation and followed that line of work until his death, 
which occurred when he was sixty-three years of age. He is survived by 
his wife. 

John W. Watson was still a small boy when he removed with his 
parents to Raleigh, North Carolina, just after the close of the Civil War. 
He was reared in that city and educated chiefly in the Raleigh Academy, 
laying aside his books at the age of sixteen in order to visit the American 
southwest. He spent two years in the South and Southwest, living chiefly 
in Louisiana and Texas and engaging in various occupations. Returning 
to Raleigh when he was eighteen, he secured a position as clerk and held 
it for three years, at the end of which time he again left home, going south- 
ward to Georgia. After two years, in 1882, he came to Florida and has 
since been a resident of this State. He located first in Cedar Keys and 
became a clerk in a mercantile store, later marrying the daughter of his 
employer. From Cedar Keys he went to Kissimmee, where for a number of 
years he engaged in the hardware business. While a resident of that city 
he first became known in public life, his aggressive spirit and modern ideas 
carrying him forward into important political relations. He served as 
mayor of Kissimmee for two terms, as president of the city council and 

203 



chairman of the board of county commissioners, finally enlarging the field 
of his interests to include activity in State politics. He was elected to the 
Florida legislature and served six consecutive terms from Osceola County, 
during one of which he was elected speaker of the house of representatives, 
his public service being distinguished by a breadth of view and a pro- 
gressive and businesslike activity which marked him an able politician. 
While still residing in Kissimmee and prominently engaged in the hardware 
business there he made a trip to Miami in 1895, just before the Florida 
East Coast Railway was completed to the town site, and here established a 
hardware store, becoming in this way one of the pioneer business men of 
the community. For several years after this he maintained his residence 
at Kissimmee and conducted hardware stores in both cities, finally, however, 
disposing of his original enterprise and moving his family in 1905 to Miami. 
The hardware concern which he established here in 1895 had an unin- 
terrupted growth until he sold out and retired from business in 1917. 
The business, which has both wholesale and retail departments, was 
conducted under the name of the John W. Watson Hardware Company and 
occupied a two-story brick building, seventy-five by one hundred feet, 
which Mr. Watson erected and owns. In addition there is a warehouse, 
three stories high, 50 by 125 feet, adjoining the main building. In ad- 
dition to his stores he has extensive property interests in the vicinity of 
the city, owning a forty-acre bearing grapefruit grove at the edge of the 
Everglades, four miles west of Miami. He was connected with the general 
business life as president for two terms of the Miami Board of Trade (now 
Miami Chamber of Commerce), a position in which he did far-sighted, 
beneficial and progressive work. 

Mr. Watson married, in 1882, Cora Chafer, a native of Iowa, who was 
reared in Jacksonville, Florida. They have three children : Robert 0. ; 
Janet, who is the wife of W. W. Charles, of Miami ; and John W. Watson, Jr. 
Mr. Watson is numbered among the most progressive and successful busi- 
ness men of Miami, but in his business success does not lie his truest and 
most worthy claim to a place in the city's history, for as a public official 
his work has been far-reaching, progressive and constructive. He repre- 
sented Dade County in the State legislature for four terms and in 1912 
was a prominent candidate for governor of the State before the democratic 
State convention, receiving the solid and flattering support of all the dele- 
gates from that portion of the State where his merit and worth are known. 
He was three times elected mayor of the city of Miami and has since 
labored for the advancement of the community interests, doing effective 
work in the line of reform and upbuilding. Fraternally he is connected 
with the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias, and the Elks. To make 
his native talents subserve the demands which conditions of society impose 
at the present time is the purpose of his life, and by reason of the fine 
discrimination and judgment which characterize his efforts at all times he 

204 



stands today as a splendid representative of the successful business man 
to whom business is, however, but one phase of life and does not exclude 
active participation in the other vital interests which go to make up the 
sum of human existence. 

SENATOR FREDERICK U. HUDSON 

The following sketch of Senator Frederick M. Hudson, senior member 
of the law firm of Hudson, Wolfe & Cason, is taken from the Legislative 
Blue Book of Florida, 1915: 

Senator Frederick M. Hudson, the most likely candidate for the next 
Governor of Florida, was born February 2, 1871, in Jeflferson County, 
Arkansas. He was reared under the influence of the finest traditions of the 
Old South and at the same time stands for the highest ideals of the New 
South. He is therefore peculiarly fitted to represent the cosmopolitan 
counties of the East Coast and to understand the needs of the older sections 
of the State. Like a majority of our great statesmen and men of promi- 
nence, he spent his boyhood on his father's farm. He attended the common 
schools and finished at Washington and Lee University in both the academic 
and law departments. He first practiced law at Pine BluflF, Arkansas, and 
served as City Attorney. His first visit to Florida was during his college 
days in 1890, when his parents occupied a winter home on Indian River. 
Since that time his interest in the State and his knowledge of its affairs 
has been intimate. Having later become a citizen of the State, he was 
elected in 1904 to the State senate and has continuously remained a 
member of that body. During the first few weeks of his service he was a 
leading figure in two contests, and his conduct of these matters served to 
fix his rank as a legislator. While one of these was largely local in its 
effect. Senator Hudson was involved in a struggle as strenuous as if every 
citizen of Florida had been vitally interested. It was the first fight since 
1887 for county division and he may be said to have marked the trail for 
all subsequent county division bills. The other contest was over a matter 
of vital importance to the State. It grew out of Senator Hudson's efforts 
to eliminate certain objectionable sections from the Key West Extension 
bill, which the Florida East Coast Railway Company and its friends sought 
to pass through the Florida legislature. The bill contained a provision 
which would have had the effect of practically taking the Florida East 
Coast Railway from under the regulatory powers of the Railroad Com- 
mission. These points were seen by Senator Hudson and handled by him 
in such a masterly way, that he succeeded in having this objectionable 
section eliminated from the bill before it was passed. At the session of 
1909 he was chosen president of the senate. A fellow senator in presenting 
his name when nominating him for president of the senate, said, among 
other things, "He is as modest and gentle as a woman, but where occasion 

205 



demands he can be as fierce as a lion." Senator Hudson's term as president 
of the senate was marked by some of the most strenuous legislative events 
of recent years. The senate being evenly divided upon public questions 
vitally affecting the State, the fight was so strenuous at times, that it 
presented a most trying situation to the presiding officer; but through it 
all, he never failed in a single duty, either as a senator or as the presiding 
officer of the senate. So fair, impartial and correct was he in his ruling, 
that he was unanimously voted to be one of the best presiding officers who 
had ever presided over the Florida senate. This was also the view of those 
on the outside, who had been close observers and partisans on one side or 
the other in the controversies which engaged the attention of the senate. 
During the six legislative sessions which he has served in the senate, he 
has been a leader, and has at all times stood for the highest ideals in legis- 
lative and public affairs, being one of the most convincing and logical de- 
baters, always having himself in hand and treating his opponents with the 
utmost fairness and consideration. He never deals in personalities or resorts 
to unfair methods to advance the principles for which he stands, always 
standing for what he conceives to be the right, whether this is with the ma- 
jority or with the minority. One of his greatest characteristics is that he 
has always stood for the moral side of every moral question, believing in 
the uplift and betterment of his fellowman, always taking a keen interest 
in educational matters, believing that the State should not be penurious in 
affording eveiy opportunity to the youth of the State, to acquire such edu- 
cation as would equip them for the battle of life. He has been a particular 
advocate of agricultural education, and encouragement to the farmers and 
fruit growers of Florida. His sympathies have always been with the man 
who labored, and it might be truthfully said of him, that his heart beats 
in unison with mankind. His political principles have always been and are 
now what are known as progressive, and his ideas of business affairs are 
also along progressive lines. As a lawyer. Senator Hudson is regarded as 
one of the ablest at the Florida bar. After having built up a large prac- 
tice at Miami, he was persuaded by the Florida Railroad Commissioners to 
become their special counsel, which he accepted at a time when the legal 
work of that department of the State government was most onerous. For 
four years he devoted his entire time to advising that body in the conduct 
of its legal affairs, during which time he tried through the State and 
federal courts, and brought to a conclusion, some of the most important 
cases involving the principles of public regulation, meeting and coping 
with the best talent the railroad companies could put forward. His work 
as counsel for the railroad commissioners is conceded as invaluable, in 
extending and making the efforts of that body more useful to the people 
of this State. Although he himself must realize that he stands in the 
fore rank of the legal profession of Florida, he has often been heard to 
express a desire to go back to the soil, that he might be living upon and 

206 



conducting a farm and raising stock in his later years, holding steadfast 
to the idea that the future American prince will be the prince of agricul- 
ture. His advice to young men today is, to take up the study of agriculture 
and become scientific farmers of tomori'ow. His announcement some 
months ago as a candidate for governor of Florida was without question in 
order. He is of gubernatorial size and calibre, having all the necessary 
qualifications of an executive, and a calm judicial mind, always analyzing 
every question until he is convicted of its right or wrong and then pro- 
ceeding with steadfast firmness to do what he conceives to be right. He is 
such a man as Florida needs today, when she occupies the center of the 
stage, to guide her in the great developments which are taking place 
within her borders, and when the searchlight of the great republic is 
turned upon her. This man is befoi-e us and stands out most prominently 
as a leader of the best interests of the great State of Florida. 

Few men are so fortunate in their family relations as is Senator 
Hudson. He was married in 1896 to Miss Nora B. Andrews of Pine Bluff, 
Arkansas. They have three devoted children and Mr. Hudson's mother, 
aged 87 years, makes her home with her son. The senator's own expression 
is that for the success he has attained, he owes more to his mother and his 
wife than to all the rest of the world. 

In justice to the modesty of Senator Hudson, let it be understood that 
these lines have been written by a friend. 

JEROME T. FEASTER 

Jerome T. Feaster, Miami, prominently identified with the agricul- 
tural interests of Dade County as a successful grower, buyer and seller of 
citrus fruits and vegetables, has contributed largely to the development of 
agricultural methods suitable to south Florida. Always deeply interested 
in the furtherance of agricultui'al development, Mr. Feaster has demon- 
strated by his individual success the possibilities and opportunities of this 
favored locality. 

Mr. Feaster was born at Titusville, Florida, October 2, 1876, and he is 
a son of Jacob N. and Jeannette Elizabeth (Twichell) Feaster, the former 
bom at Columbia, South Carolina and the latter a native of Louisville, 
Kentucky. Jacob N. Feaster was a successful merchant before the Civil 
War, who removed to Florida in 1870 and engaged in citrus fruit cultiva- 
tion on the Indian River. He died in January, 1895, and his widow now 
resides in Miami. Jerome T. Feaster received a public school education, 
and when a young man engaged in the wholesale meat business under the 
firm name of Feaster & Company, which he successfully conducted for 
twenty-three years. This company was later absorbed by the Florida 
East Coast Cattle Company and Mr. Feaster became vice-president of that 
company and manager of their branch at Titusville, Florida. He later 
became manager of the Fort Pierce branch, and from there came to Miami 

207 



as their resident manager, but was again transferred to Titusville. About 
1904 he again came to Miami as manager, and continued to be actively 
identified with the concern until 1917 when he disposed of his interests in 
the Florida East Coast Cattle Company. Since then he has been engaged 
as a grower, buyer and seller of citrus fruits and vegetables. He is the 
owner of eighty acres of groves, in the cultivation of which he has been 
very successful. He is also an extensive grower of tomatoes and in 1913 
netted the sum of $5,600 on twenty acres of tomatoes. He is a firm be- 
liever in the great productivity of the soil of Dade County and has been 
a constructive factor in the promotion of agricultural development. 

Mr. Feaster married October 30, 1901, Addie Lee King, of Troy, Ala- 
bama, and they have six children: Irene Grace, Trezvant D., Jr., Elzada 
Frances, Thomas Andrew, Jr., Jeannette Elizabeth, and Addle Lee. Mr. 
Feaster is a director of the Dade County Security Company and a director 
of the Belcher Asphalt and Paving Company. He is chairman of the boai'd 
of stewards of Trinity M. E. church, Miami, and is recognized as a substan- 
tial and representative citizen, deeply and actively interested in the ma- 
terial and moral welfare of the community. 

JOSEPH KILLIAN DORN 

Among the men of Miami whose initiative, foresight and discrimina- 
tion, guiding and controlling the activities of their business careers, have 
made secure for them a place among the leaders in the city's financial and 
general business expansion is Joseph Killian Dorn, president of the J. K. 
Dorn Real Estate & Investment Company and one of the largest automobile 
distributors in south Florida. Mr. Dorn is numbered among the pioneer 
business men of the city. He grew to manhood here and entered business, 
but being of that high character of intellectual development which per- 
mitted of the recognition of the best opportunities he did not continue in 
the business for which he had originally equipped himself, but took up 
what he considered a more favored line, and in it met such success that he 
is today rated one of the most successful, prominent and wealthy men of 
the community. Mr. Dorn is a native of Germany, his birth having oc- 
curred in Koenigstein, province of Nassau, December 12, 1876, and he is a 
son of George B. and Gertrude Marie (Irlenbome) Dorn, who in 1882, 
left their native land and crossed the Atlantic to America, settling in New 
York City. In 1886, the father's health being impaired, they came south 
and located in Winter Park, Florida, where George B. Dorn engaged in the 
cultivation of oranges, setting out extensive groves which he was very 
successful in developing until the great freeze of 1895 entirely destroyed 
his trees and caused the failure of the bank where his funds were deposited. 
In order to escape another similar experience Mr. Dorn went farther south 
and settled in West Palm Beach, where he engaged in fruit growing, at 
the same time successfully managing a small hotel. 

208 




J. K. DORN 



Joseph K. Dorn was only four years old when he came with his 
parents to America. He acquired his preliminary education in the New 
York public schools and after the family located in Florida entered Rollins 
College, in Winter Park. He accompanied his parents to West Palm Beach 
and secured a position in a drug store there, which, however, he held only 
a short time, resigning to come to Miami which, although a small town at 
that time, was rapidly coming into prominence. Mr. Dorn obtained em- 
ployment as a stenographer for Scott & Broome and at this time devoted 
all of his evenings to the study of law. Upon his father's death he received 
a share of the life insurance and with that capital purchased a drug store 
and established himself in business. His business methods and the grow- 
ing demand of Miami resulted in such a large business that he considered 
it advisable to take in a partner, and E. D. Deberry formed an association 
with him and their success was such that the business soon required larger 
quarters, and within a period of three years their stock had grown from 
one thousand dollars to twelve thousand dollars in value. In order to 
further perfect himself in his chosen line of work Mr. Dorn went to New 
York and took a full course in the Board of Pharmacy Institute, from which 
he was graduated in 1900. For eight months he studied night and day, in 
order to take as much work as possible in a short time. He was one of 
three out of a class of twenty-two who passed the examination before the 
City Board of New York and he individually received the highest number 
of points, scoring ninety-eight. 

When Mr. Dorn returned to Miami, however, he found the business 
situation changed and, being quick to recognize and utilize an opportunity, 
sold out his interest in the drug store and entered the real estate and in- 
surance field, in which line he met with success from the start. As a real 
estate broker he has negotiated some of the largest transactions in this 
section, and he has bought, improved and sold a great deal of valuable 
property. He is president of the J. K. Dorn Real Estate & Investment 
Company, handling real estate, loans and rentals, one of the leading real 
estate brokerage firms of Miami. In the course of his operations he has 
made judicious investments for himself and is today one of the largest 
property owners in the city. 

Although Mr. Dorn has given a great deal of his time and attention 
to his real estate operations, his interests are not confined to these lines. 
He is one of the largest automobile distributors of south Florida, con- 
trolling the sales of the Packard and the Studebaker cars and doing a 
business of large volume. 

Mr. Dorn married, September 23, 1901, Elizabeth G. Leete, a grand- 
daughter of Governor Leete, of Connecticut. Her parents were George 
Augustus and Harriet Augusta Leete, of New Haven, Connecticut. Mr. 
and Mrs. Dorn have a daughter, Gertrude Elizabeth. 

Mr. Dorn's interests are by no means confined to business affairs but 

209 



are varied in kind and comprehensive in scope, including active partici- 
pation in practically every phase of community life. He was the leader 
in the organization of the local branch of the Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to Animals and served as president of the society. He was a 
charter member of the Miami Chamber of Commerce and in this connection 
rendered valuable service as a member of the active working committees 
which have had in charge movements for the city's benefit. He was a 
member of the first military company that was organized in Miami. He is 
a member of the Episcopal church and belongs to the Florida State Horti- 
cultural Society. As one of Miami's most successful and representative 
citizens he has been an important factor in the city's material upbuilding 
and an element in its intellectual and moral advancement. 

HERBERT M. KING 

Herbert M. King, identified with important business interests of Miami 
for over twenty years, is numbered among the pioneer business men of the 
city, his residence here dating from January 9, 1897. Two years later he 
established a small undertaking establishment and with the growth of the 
town improved and enlarged his place to adequate proportions. He suc- 
cessfully conducted this business for twenty-two years, disposing of his 
interests in 1921. Mr. King was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, July 3, 
1853, and is a son of Alexander King, who removed from Rhode Island 
to Ohio in pioneer times and for many years engaged in farming in that 
State. 

Mr. King was reared and educated in Ohio and in early manhood 
learned the business of undertaking and also the printer's trade. In 1891 
he came from Cleveland, Ohio, to Jacksonville, Florida, and six years later 
to Miami, taking up his residence here when the town was only one year 
old. During his two years' residence here before going into business for 
himself he was foreman on the Miami Metropolis, then a weekly newspaper 
with hand set type and hand run machinery. Aside from his duties as 
foreman, Mr. King often contributed articles and it was one of these articles 
that awoke the citizens to the need of rock roads and put the force in 
operation which laid the first rock road out of Miami. From the interest 
aroused by Mr. King's newspaper article funds were raised by subscription 
by Harry C. Budge and the road built to Coconut Grove. In 1898 he estab- 
lished himself in the undertaking business, and two years later he opened 
also a job printing office, conducting the two concerns profitably. He dis- 
posed of the printing plant in 1917 and retired from the undertaking 
business in 1921. When he first began business here Miami was only a 
little town, called the Magic City, and the old city cemetery seemed a day's 
journey away. 

Mr. King has been twice married, his first wife having passed away. 

210 



After her death he married Leila Faris, daughter of Rev. W. W. Faris, 
well-known Presbyterian clergyman of Miami. He is an ex-president of 
the Florida State Funeral Directors Association, belongs to the Miami 
Chamber of Commerce, and during his long business career here has been 
active in promoting the general business interests of the city. Fraternally 
he is connected with the Elks, Knights of Pythias and Red Men. He is 
widely and favorably known, and as one of the pioneers he has done much 
in a quiet, unostentatious way for the moral and material advancement 
of the community. 

FRANK BRYANT STONEMAN 

Frank Bryant Stoneman, managing editor of The Miami Herald, has 
been identified with Miami affairs since 1903 and is numbered among those 
whose influence and ability have contributed largely to the upbuilding and 
development of the city and to the advancement of its moral and intel- 
lectual status. As editor of the Herald he is a force in the direction of 
public thought and opinion, while as a citizen his activities along diverse 
lines indicates his fidelity to all those interests which feature most strongly 
as factors in community welfare and general improvement. 

Mr. Stoneman was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 26, 1857, and is 
a son of Dr. Mark Davis and Aletha (White) Stoneman, the former a 
native of Virginia and the latter born of North Carolina parentage. During 
the Civil War the father removed his family to St. Anthony Falls, Minne- 
sota, which afterward became a part of the city of Minneapolis. Mr. 
Stoneman acquired his education in the common schools of Minneapolis, 
in CarletO/ College at Northfield, Minnesota, and in the University of 
Minnesota. He was obliged to abandon his university course before 
graduation on account of the death of his father and the necessity of 
assisting in the support of the family. He had the ordinary fortunes of 
the average boy and young man of the seventies and eighties and for a 
time followed any occupation that afforded something of remuneration. 
During that period and later he studied law under a very eminent tutor, 
but drifted into financial business without being admitted to the bar. He 
passed a few years in Montana at the time the Northern Pacific Railroad 
was built through that then territory, helping to build up the town of 
Billings. He returned to Minneapolis in 1885 and remained there until 
1894, at which time he went to Rhode Island, representing there a Min- 
neapolis corporation. He came to Florida in 1897,. landing in Orlando early 
in January of that year. There he was admitted to the bar and practiced 
law for a time, but in January, 1901, through the purcliase of a small 
printing plant, he embarked in the pubHshing business, establishing the 
Orlando Record, a small afternoon paper. Apparently the field had been 
exhausted in 1903 and with his partner he transferred the plant to Miami, 

211 



beginning on September 15 of that year the publication of the Miami 
Evening Record. This publication afterward became the Morning Netvs- 
Record and in 1910 a reorganization took place which resulted in the 
establishment of The Miami Herald, of which he has been the managing 
editor ever since. He has made the Herald one of the best newspapers of 
the South and a vital force in community affairs. In 1904, Mr. Stoneman 
was elected presidential elector for Florida and served as president of the 
electoral college of the State. When the criminal court of record was 
established in Dade County he was nominated by the people for its first 
judge, but the then governor refused to follow the rules of the primary 
and appointed another. In 1918 he was elected judge of the municipal 
court by the city council to fill an unexpired term and served eight months 
on that bench. He is regarded as one of the leading Masons of Florida 
and has been prominent in the great benevolent vrork of that order. He 
was worshipful master of Biscayne Lodge for six consecutive years, high 
priest of Jericho Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, master of the council of 
Royal and Select Masons, and commander of Simon and Cyrene Com- 
mandery. Knights Templar, Miami. He has also served as grand high 
priest, Royal Arch Masons of Florida, and grand commander of the Grand 
Commandery of Knights Templar of the State, representing Florida in 
the Grand Encampment in 1916 at Los Angeles. He is also a thirty-second 
degree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Nobles of the Mystic 
Shrine. 

Mr. Stoneman married, in 1899, Lillian Trenfethen, of Taunton, 
Massachusetts. Of that marriage there was one daughter, Marjory Stone- 
man Douglas. In April, 1914, he married Lillias E. Shine, of Orlando, 
Florida, whose father and mother were natives of Florida, coming from the 
old families in Tallahassee. Mrs. Stoneman is a lineal descendant of 
Thomas Jefferson. They live in their own home in Spring Garden, Miami. 
Mr. Stoneman is a member of the board of directors of the Miami Chamber 
of Commerce and is president of the Miami Rotary Club. He is a member 
of the Episcopal church and is a vestryman of Trinity parish, Miami. A 
man of broad culture, high character and distinguished talent, he ranks 
among the most influential citizens of the community in all those things 
which make for civic betterment and moral progress. 

COLONEL FELIX C. BROSSIER 

Numbered among the pioneers of south Florida, whose residence in 
Dade County antedates the coming of the railroad, the foundation of the 
city of Miami and the orderly establishment of business and government, 
is Felix C. Brossier, who landed at Lemon City in 1893, and who, since 1898, 
has been prominently identified with business interests of Miami. He has 
not only been a witness of the many changes which have occurred here 

212 



but has borne his part in the work of public progress and improvement and 
done much in an unostentatious way to promote the general welfare. 

Colonel Brossier is a native of Galveston, Texas, born October 31, 
1854, and he is a son of Jean and Rosalie Francoise (Hectorne) Brossier, 
both of whom were natives of France, both now deceased, the father 
dying when the subject of this sketch was but a few years old. Reared in 
Texas and educated in the public schools there, he worked as a boy in the 
bakery of his step-father. In 1879, at the outbreak of the silver craze, he 
went to Leadville, Colorado, and there engaged in mining pursuits until 
1884. He then went to New Orleans and was there engaged with his 
brother-in-law in the confectionery business for a period of two years. 
In 1886 he located in Key West and for a number of years was associated 
with William Cun-y's Sons Company there in the mercantile business, 
being their head clerk, in charge of their retail department. In 1893 he 
came to Dade County. At that time there was nothing but a club house 
in old Fort Dallas Park, and he landed at Lemon City, but soon afterward 
went on a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, ten miles west of 
Miami, which Mrs. M. A. Moffat had taken. He remained on the home- 
stead for a number of years and occupied his attention with the making of 
starch from the native roots and shipping to Key West. In 1898 he 
removed to the city of Miami and engaged in the real estate business, with 
which he has since been actively identified, being associated with his son, 
G. Duncan Brossier, mentioned elsewhere in this volume. The firm of 
F. C. Brossier & Son is one of the pioneer real estate firms of the city, 
handling much important property and developing some of the most at- 
tractive subdivisions of the city. 

Colonel Brossier was captain of Company I, Second Battalion, Key 
West Guards, and had the distinction of being the ranking captain in the 
State when he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel. He was later com- 
missioned as colonel, and still retains that title, being on the retired list, 
as colonel of the Second Regiment. 

Colonel Brossier married, April 6, 1876, Jenna A. Moffat, who is a 
native of Key West, Florida, and they have five children living: G. Duncan 
Brossier, Adele H., wife of J. H. Reese, who is secretary-treasurer of the 
Builders Exchange, Savannah, Georgia; Robert Bazile and Joseph Clement, 
twins, who are the owners and publishers of the Reporter Star, a daily 
newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and widely recognized as energetic and in- 
fluential factors in the field of progressive joui-nalism. Colonel Brossier is 
numbered among those substantial men of Miami whose life work has 
been a serviceable factor in the growth and upbuilding of the community. 
He is highly esteemed as a successful business man and for the qualities 
of his character which have made possible his success. 

213 



JOSIAH F. CHAILLE 

Josiah F. Chaille, member of the Miami City Council and prominently 
identified with the business and political life of the city for many years, 
is a native of Humphreys County, Tennessee, where he was born August 
6, 1874. He is a son of William H. and Carrie K. (Christman) Chaille, 
both of whom are natives of the State of Kentucky. William H. Chaille 
is mentioned elsewhere in this volume. 

Josiah F. Chaille received a public school education in the schools 
of Texas and Ocala, Florida, being but a child when his parents removed to 
the Lone Star State. ■ In 1886 the family removed to Ocala, Florida, and 
in 1900 came to Miami. When thirteen years of age he entered the office 
of the Ocala Banner, and from that time until he came to Miami he was 
engaged in newspaper work, filling the various positions from apprentice 
to editor. Coming to Miami, he was here engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness until December, 1916. He was associated with his father in this 
enterprise until 1912, when the father retired. He conducted the busi- 
ness independently until 1916, when he disposed of his interests to Bur- 
dine's Sons. Meanwhile he had, in 1913, established a wholesale candy 
business under the name of Chaille Candy Company, a prosperous concern, 
which he also disposed of in 1916 to the Hall- Wright Company. Having 
been more or less active in the real estate business, he then turned his 
attention to that line of development. In association with H. M. Anderson, 
he purchased the Pulaski Estate at Buena Vista. This was sub-divided 
and placed on the market in 1917, and despite the war activities of that 
time, was made one of the successful developments of the year. The 
firm of Anderson & Chaille also operate the Miami Citrus Groves and Fruit 
Company, controlling one hundred and fifty-six acres of bearing groves, 
which is being marketed. They are also the principal factors in the Bay 
Biscayne Improvement Company, an organization engaged in a develop- 
ment project of great magnitude. This corporation has purchased from 
the State one hundred and forty-one aci'es in Biscayne Bay and began on 
March 1, 1921, the construction of four islands, which they will provide 
with every possible improvement. They have purchased the Collins 
Bridge in the furtherance of these plans and propose to create a valuable 
and beautiful property, the project representing an approximate expendi- 
ture of about $1,250,000. 

Mr. Chaille is also president of the Mutual Savings and Investment 
Company, which he founded in 1913. This corporation, with a capital of 
$100,000, is engaged in the buying and selling of mortgages and in the 
development of properties. He has been a director of the Dade County 
Securities Company for the past fifteen years. In 1918 he was elected 
to the Miami City Council and re-elected in June, 1919, and is recognized 
as one of the ablest members of the Council. He is councilman in charge 

214 




J. F. CHAILLE 



of streets and is the author of the Chaille plan for renaming the streets 
of the city. 

Mr. Chaille married, June 3, 1903, Minnie V. Hall, daughter of Rev. 
G. W. Hall. Mrs. Chaille, who was born in Melrose, Florida, died Decem- 
ber 18, 1919, leaving two sons: Hallfred and Jack. 

Mr. Chaille was one of the organizers of the Southern M. E. Church 
and has served as a member of the board of stewards and was chairman 
of the building committee that built the present church edifice. Fratern- 
ally he is a Mason. He has been active and prominent in local political 
circles for many years. His social, official and business activities have 
effected development in an important way, and entitle him to be ranked 
among the real upbuilders of the community. 

J. D. GODMAN 

One of the pioneer citizens of Miami whose life record covers a wide 
and interesting experience, is J. D. Godman, of the city sanitary de- 
partment. Mr. Godman was born in Laurens County, South Carolina, 
May 4, 1851, and he is a son of Stuart Adair and Margaret E. (Watts) 
Godman, the former born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the latter a native of 
Laurens County, South Carolina. Stuart Adair Godman was a writer of 
some note and for many years published Family Friend and Fireside at 
Columbia, South Carolina. He died in 1853, his widow surviving until 
about 1919, dying at Jacksonville, Florida, at the advanced age of eighty- 
nine. J. D. Godman's great grandfather, Rembrandt Peal, was a noted 
portrait painter. 

J. D. Godman was reared near Ninety-Six Station, South Carolina, 
receiving a private school education. When eighteen years of age, he went 
to Jacksonville, Florida, and two years later went to northwest Texas, 
where he followed the outdoor life of a cow puncher. In 1879 he was ap- 
pointed deputy sheriff of Young County, Texas, and during the years 
1886 and 1887 he was United States Deputy Marshal for the northern 
district of Texas, embracing the Panhandle country which then included 
Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. About two and one-half years later 
he came to Florida, locating on the west coast, living at Brooksville. Soon 
after removing to Brooksville he was elected marshal and served the city 
ably in this position. Later he was connected with Brooks & Baker in 
the phosphate business for a period of four years and afterward was en- 
gaged as a railroad tie contractor. Removing to Bellaire, Florida, he took 
up landscape gardening, doing work on the Bellevue Hotel property, build- 
ing terraces and the race track. He then removed to Tampa, where he fol- 
lowed the vocation of a contracting painter. In this work he used his 
own formula in preparing all paint that he used. Leaving Tampa, he re- 
moved to Jacksonville, and in 1903 came to Miami for the Florida East 
Coast Railroad Company. He was a construction foreman for this com- 

215 



pany and brought the first crew of negroes here to take up work on this 
raih'oad. Being an expert in the handling of dynamite, he found ample 
opportunity for use of this high explosive in construction work. During 
the years 1905 to 1908, Mr. Godman was superintendent of streets of 
Miami. Resigning this office, he was engaged in the contracting business 
until 1914, building streets, sewers and sidewalks. He then devoted his 
attention to planting a ten-acre grove, lying south of Miami, in oranges 
and gi'ape fruit. Being again selected superintendent of streets he served 
another three years in this capacity. On January 17, 1921, he became 
connected with the city sanitary department as superintendent of in- 
spection. 

Mr. Godman was married in Texas to Mattie Welch, who was born 
in Iowa and reared in the State of Indiana. He belongs to the Masonic 
fraternity. His life has been one of usefulness and activity, and he has 
always been found worthy of every trust reposed in him. He is widely 
and favorably known and holds the respect and esteem of all with whom 
he has been associated. 

CHARLES M. FRAZURE 

Among the representative men of Miami whose successful work in the 
conduct of their individual interests has aided in the general development 
is numbered Charles M. Frazure, who has been identified with various 
business interests here since 1906, and who is accounted today as one of 
the solid, substantial men of the community. 

Mr. Frazure was born at Somerset, Kentucky, November 7, 1861, and 
is a son of William and Maggie M. (Shepperd) Frazure, both of whom 
were also natives of Kentucky, the former bom at Somerset and the latter 
at Wayne. William Frazure was a contractor, who removed to Florida 
about 1882, and who died at Kissimmee, Florida, in 1905 at the age of 
seventy-four. His widow died at Palm Beach, Florida, in 1913. Charles 
M. Frazure was reared in Somerset, Kentucky, and there received a public 
school education. As a young man he had assisted his father in general 
contracting work, and when twenty-one years of age accompanied the 
family on their removal to Kissimmee, Florida, where he was in the employ 
of the Occochobee Drainage Company for a period of three years. He 
then became connected with the old South Florida Railroad Company, now 
the Atlantic Coast Line, and served in the capacity of passenger conductor, 
express messenger and agent for a period of twenty-four years. His "run" 
was from Sanford to Tampa, and he has the distinction of running the 
first passenger train into Tampa on what was then known as the Plant 
System, then operated as a narrow-gauge railroad. He was thus employed 
until 1906, when he removed to Miami. Mr. Frazure's success here is con- 
vincing proof of the possibilities offered in this favored section. When 
he came here his entire resources consisted of six mules and forty dollars 

216 



in money, and he had five in his family. He bought the Jacobs place of 
twenty acres in the Allapattah district, paying therefore $3,250. He rented 
this place until 1919, when he sold it for $15,500. Meanwhile he had been 
engaged in the road contracting business, which he followed until 1913, 
constructing hard surface roads in various parts of the county and estab- 
lishing a reputation for straight-forward business methods and a broad 
knowledge of road construction. In 1913 he leased the Gautier House, 
which he operated for nine months, and in April, 1914, he established the 
Frazure House, at 1100 Boulevard, where, for a period of seven years, 
he conducted a popular hostelry, enjoying a representative patronage. In 
March, 1920, he relinquished the hotel property, and retired from active 
business. 

Mr. Frazure married, December 16, 1891, Georgia Irene Seymour, of 
Athens, Georgia, and they have five children: Milton Lamar, Thomas 
Stanhope, John Clark, Hoyt Charles, and Alice May. A representative type 
of the true southern gentleman, Mr. Frazure is highly regarded as a citizen 
interested in the welfare and development of the city. 

J. H. TALLEY 

J. H. Talley, principal of J. H. Talley & Company, general insurance 
brokers, is a representative type in the personnel of successful business 
men of Miami who has utilized his opportunities and native powers in such 
a way as to gain a creditable position in his special field of business and 
whose activities have been an element in the general development. Mr. 
Talley was born at Atlanta, Geoi'gia, February 13, 1886. He is a son of 
Captain A. S. and Annie (Chapman) Talley, both of whom also were natives 
of the State of Georgia. Captain A. S. Talley was one of the most success- 
ful merchants of Atlanta and a prominent man of affairs. He was Captain 
of Company A, Ninth Georgia Batallion, which he organized during the 
Civil War, and was also captain of the Ku Klux Klan, active in Atlanta 
during reconstruction days. He served as county clerk of Fulton County, 
Georgia, for a number of years and was an influential citizen of Atlanta 
until his death there December 9, 1901. 

J. H. Talley was reared in Atlanta and acquired his education in the 
public schools of that city. He has been identified with the insurance 
business since he was thirteen years of age, having been connected with 
an Atlanta agency for a period of thirteen years and working up from 
file clerk to a special agent. At the age of nineteen he became a special 
agent, being the youngest special agent on the road. He represented the 
Insurance Company of North America, Philadelphia Underwriters and the 
Alliance Insurance Company of Philadelphia, and traveled Mississippi, 
Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas and Florida in their interest. He came to 
Miami August 26, 1912, and here established himself in business as a 

217 



general insurance broker. His knowledge of insurance matters, his energy 
and his proficient business methods have enabled him to build up a large 
and representative patronage. Mr. Talley wrote the present building code 
and the present electrical code and it was through his efforts that Miami 
was changed from a rating of the second class with deficiencies to a full 
first-class rating. These codes, adopted in 1914, are in effect today, and 
every policy holder in the city has been benefited thereby. 

Mr. Talley married June 20, 1914, Lesley Garner, daughter of Judge 
Andrew Ewing Garner, of Springfield, Tennessee, and they have one 
daughter, Eugenia Anne. Fraternally he is a member of the Masons and 
the Elks. He is a member of the Country Club, Miami Beach Golf Club, 
Angler's Club, Motor Club, Bimini Bay Rod and Gun Club and Miami Ad 
Club. He is likewise active in community and civic affairs, contributing in 
a definite measure in his particular sphere of action to the wellbeing of the 
community and to the advancement of its normal and legitimate growth. 

WILLIAM H. CHAILLE 

Among the residents of Miami who have been closely associated with 
the business interests of the city and who has been an influential factor 
in civic affairs for many years is William H. Chaille, for a long period 
identified with important mercantile interests here and now engaged as a 
successful real estate broker, being an important factor in the Realty In- 
vestment Company. 

Mr. Chaille was born in Paris, Kentucky, February 15, 1850, and is a 
son of Josiah Chaille, a native of Indiana and prominent in the grist and 
saw mill business. On the paternal side Mr. Chaille is of French ancestry, 
having descended from one of two brothers who emigrated from France to 
America in Revolutionary times. His mother was Ann Stribling, a daugh- 
ter of Thomas T. Stribling, a native of Virginia. Josiah Chaille died in 
Paris, Kentucky, and his widow afterward removed with her six children 
to Humphreys County, Tennessee, where her father had several years 
previously purchased a large tract of land, upon which the family resided 
for some time. The mother subsequently married again and spent the 
remainder of her life in Humphreys County. 

William H. Chaille was reared upon a farm in Tennessee and acquired 
his education in the public schools of Humphreys County. After he 
reached manhood he engaged in farming for a number of years and in 
1879 went to Texas, where for two years he engaged in cotton planting 
near Palestine. Later he went to Corsicana and there established himself 
as a fruit and confectionary merchant, later moving his business to Dallas 
and then to Abilene. Altogether he spent seven years in Texas and in 
1885 came to Florida, locating first at Ocala, where for fifteen years he 
conducted a profitable mercantile enterprise. In 1900 he came to Miami, 
which was then a mere village, and established the Racket store, which 

218 



he conducted along modem and progressive lines for a number of years. 
He later took his son, Josiah F. Chaille, into partnership with him, the 
firm name being W. H. Chaille & Son. Under their management the store 
became one of the best known and reliable mercantile houses in the city. 
In 1912 Mr. Chaille sold the store to his son who subsequently also sold his 
interest. He is now identified with real estate interests as a broker of 
high-grade properties and investments and he is recognized as a man whose 
judgment as to land values is second to none in the community. He is the 
owner of much valuable city real estate, improved and unimproved, and has 
extensive holdings outside of Miami. 

Mr. Chaille married, April 19, 1871, Carrie Christman, who was born 
and reared in Paducah, Kentucky. They became the parents of six 
children: Zulah, who married R. L. Harper, of Jacksonville; Josiah F., 
mentioned elsewhere in this volume; Willie, who died in Tennessee in 
infancy ; Julius Howard, who died in Ocala, Florida, at the age of twenty- 
one; Floyd, who lives in Miami, and Lloyd, who was killed in 1910 in a 
railroad accident. Mr. Chaille belongs to the Methodist church. South, 
and fraternally is connected with the Royal Arch Masons and the Knights 
of Pythias. He belongs to the Miami Chamber of Commerce and is active 
in all movements which tend to promote the business interests of the city. 
He gives hiS political allegiance to the democratic party and for two years 
served as a member of the Miami city council. He is well known in social, 
political and business circles, his genuine personal worth, his unquestioned 
integrity and high sincerity of purpose being the foundation of his success 
in all relations of life. 

CHARLES S. EWING 

Charles S. Ewing, principal of the Charles S. Ewing Company, gen- 
eral contractors, has been identified with the business and material inter- 
ests of Miami for a number of years and has been a contributing element 
in his sphere of usefulness to the general advancement along civic and 
moral lines. Mr. Ewing is a native of the State of Indiana, born at Miami, 
Miami County, that State, March 15, 1869. He is a son of Francis M. and 
Emily (Ellars) Ewing, the former born in Carroll county, Indiana and the 
latter a native of Washington C. H.,, Ohio. Both parents are deceased. 

Charles S. Ewing was reared on his father's farm and acquired his 
education in the graded schools of his native community. He has been 
connected with the contracting business for a period of twenty-seven years, 
starting as a journeyman and working as a carpenter and bricklayer for 
five years and then becoming a partner of his former employer. He was 
in business first at Miami, Indiana, then at Albany, Indiana, and later at 
Indianapolis, where he was established for twenty-one years, associated as 
a partner with E. R. Wolf. They conducted a general contracting business 

219 



and constructed many important churches, school buildings and factories 
throughout the State of Indiana. He came to Miami, Florida, in 1914, and 
in association with Mr. Wolf built the Carl G. Fisher home at Miami Beach. 
Later they constructed the Hotel Urmey and the New Tatum building at 
Miami, the Duckwall and the Miller residences at Miami Beach and other 
important jobs. The partnership of Mr. Ewing and Mr. Wolf, conducted 
as a stock company, was dissolved December 2,. 1919, and since then Mr. 
Ewing, as principal of the Charles S. Ewing Company, has been identified 
with much important construction. He built the Congregational Church and 
parsonage at Miami Beach, the Bedford Building and the Congress Build- 
ing at Miami, the Fairview Apartments at Miami Beach and the residence 
of J. J. Quinn at Mirimar, as well as many other prominent properties. 
He understands every phase of the contracting business and his equipment 
includes every facility for prompt and substantial construction. 

Mr. Ewing married April 14, 1896, Ruth W. Stratton, of Ridgeville, 
Indiana, and they have one daughter, Janet, who is the wife of Arch A. 
Brown, son of Hilton U. Brown, manager of the Indianapolis Netvs. Mr. 
and Mrs. Brown reside at Transylvania, Louisiana, where he is engaged in 
the lumber business. 

Mr. Ewing is a member of the First Christian Church of Miami, and 
is chairman of the official board of that congregation. He is a member of 
the Miami Chamber of Commerce and manifests the interests of a good 
citizen in measures and enterprises tending to advance the general welfare 
and to promote the moral and civic betterment of the community. 

WALTER HUGHES COMBS 

Walter Hughes Combs, of the W. H. Combs Company, undertakers 
and funeral directors, and prominent in the commercial life of Miami 
for over twenty years, is a native of the State of North Carolina, born at 
Hayesville, Clay County, April 27, 1876. He is a son of Jesse Jay and 
Hattie Elizabeth (Hughes) Combs, both natives of North Carolina. In 
1877 the family removed to Florida, locating in Orange County, where the 
father for many years engaged in merchandising and the cultivation of 
citrus fruits. He planted and developed one hundred acres of orange and 
tangerine groves, all of which were completely destroyed in the great freeze 
of 1895. The parents now reside in Miami. 

Walter H. Combs was but one year old when he accompanied his par- 
ents to Florida, and his boyhood was spent in Orange County, where he ac- 
quired an excellent public school education. In 1889 the parents removed 
to Atlanta, Georgia, in order to give their children better educational ad- 
vantages and in that city Mr. Combs pursued his studies for three years. 
At the age of seventeen he laid aside his books and entered the employ of 
the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company as a mailing clerk, a position 
which he held until 1894, when he returned to Orange County to look after 

220 




W. H. COMBS 



his father's interests there. The winter of 1895-96 he spent on Sanibel 
Island, on the Florida west coast, raising tomatoes and he spent the follow- 
ing winter the same way. In May, 1898, he joined Company C of the First 
Florida Regiment, for service in the Spanish-American war. Upon reach- 
ing Tampa he was transferred to the Fort Army Corps Hospital Service 
and continued in it for seven months, receiving his honorable discharge in 
December, 1898. Two years later he came to Miami and was for three 
years employed in various capacities, aiding in the organization of the 
Miami fire department and serving for one year as assistant chief. Early 
in 1903 he completed a course in Clark's School of Embalming in Cincinnati 
and after this spent six months in the Clark undertaking establishment at 
Jacksonville and two years and a half with H. M. King in Miami. At the 
end of this time he felt himself thoroughly competent to embark in busi- 
ness for himself and accordingly, on July 2, 1906, purchased the undertak- 
ing establishment then controlled by W. F. Miller. Mr. Combs had abso- 
lutely no money at this time, buying his concern on credit, and for some 
time thereafter he had a hard struggle. However, he applied himself as- 
siduously to his work and his merit and worth were in due time amply re- 
warded. He has one of the best equipped and most modern establishments 
in Florida, his rolling stock alone representing an investment of twenty 
thousand dollars. The present commodious quarters at Northeast First 
Avenue has been occupied since January, 1919, and include a spacious 
chapel. 

Mr. Combs married, February 22, 1899, Lorena Jaudon, a member of 
an old Florida family of French-Huguenot descent, and they are the parents 
of four children: Walter Hughes Combs, Jr., born January 5, 1900, is a 
business associate of his father; Jesse Jaudon, born May 2, 1905; Paul 
Cecil, born January 5, 1913, and Lorena, born November 16, 1915. 

Mr. Combs belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and 
has extensive and important fraternal affiliations, belonging to all branches 
of the Masonic order, Scottish and York Rites, Shrine and Knight Templar, 
and is past commander of the Knights Templar. He is also Past Grand 
Patron of the Order of the Eastern Star of Florida. He is active in the 
affairs of the Florida Funeral Directors' Association and has served as 
scout commissioner for the Dade County Boy Scouts of America. He is 
one of Miami's able and progressive business men and the success he has 
attained is the result of his own ability and industry. 

^lERWlN S. BOBST 

Merwin S. Bobst, one of the most successful of the younger repre- 
sentatives of the Dade County Bar, is a native of Reading, Pennsylvania, 
bom August 18, 1890. He is a son of James Charles and Alice Louise 
(Hefflinger) Bobst, both of whom were also natives of the Keystone State. 
The father, who was a soldier in the Civil War, is now deceased ; the mother 

221 



still residing at Reading, Pennsylvania. The original progenitors of the 
Bobst family came to America from Europe in 1742, settling in Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Mr. Bobst was reared in his native city of Reading and educated in 
the public schools there. When he was eight years of age, his father 
died and the boy at this early age was compelled to assist in the family 
support. As a young man, he was engaged in newspaper work in Reading 
for a period of three years, meanwhile taking up the study of law. Im- 
paired health brought him to Miami, and here he became a reporter on 
the Miami Metropolis. Later he became clerk to Judge R. B. Gautier, then 
county judge, and served in this capacity for three years. He was ad- 
mitted to the Dade County Bar in 1913 and was engaged in the active 
practice of his profession until the United States entered the great World 
War. In the spring of 1918 he enlisted for military service and for one 
and a half years he was an accredited representative of the Bureau of 
Naval Intelligence and for a like period a special agent of the Department 
of Justice. In this interesting field he made an enviable record, having 
been detailed on many important cases requiring the utmost in tact, 
energy and ability. He assisted in the Government's round-up of the 
radicals in Philadelphia and other eastern cities and was a factor in the 
successful results gained in several notable cases. His work in one par- 
ticular case, having an international aspect, created quite a furore in 
official circles at the time, but Mr. Bobst's official record was sustained by 
the attorney general's office and a conviction of the offender secured. Re- 
signing from the government service September 15, 1920, he resumed the 
active practice of his profession in Miami and enjoys the patronage of a 
representative clientele. 

Mr. Bobst married, October 14, 1911, Julia Bull Monroe, daughter of 
Dr. A. Leight Monroe, of Miami, and they have three children: Monroe 
Stanley, Martha Louise and James Charles. 

FRED WARREN CASON 

Fred W. Cason, of the law firm of Hudson, Wolfe & Cason, is one of 
the most successful of the younger representatives of the Dade County bar. 
His excellent professional record is indicated by his connection with much 
impoi-tant litigation in the local courts. Mr. Cason is a native of Buena 
Vista, Arkansas, born September 24, 1886, and is a son of Rev. John R. 
and Maiy Rebecca (Ingram) Cason, the former a native of North Carolina 
and the latter of Arkansas. The parents are recent residents of Dade 
County. Rev. John R. Cason was for many years a pastor of the M. E. 
Conference, having held the pastorate of that denomination at Miami, 
Palm Beach, Florida, and other places, resigning from the ministry to take 
up orphanage work as the State agent for the Florida M. E. Orphanage. 

F. W. Cason acquired his preliminary education at the Henderson- 

222 



Brown College at Arkadelphia, Arkansas, which was followed by a literary 
course at Southern College, at Sutherland, Florida. He then entered the 
Florida State University at Gainesville, from which institution he was 
graduated in 1912. He also attended Washington and Lee University. 
He began his professional career in Miami in 1912 and in 1915 formed 
his present association as a member of the firm of Hudson, Wolfe & Cason, 
recognized as one of the strongest law firms in the city. Mr. Cason served 
as city attorney from 1915 to 1917 and made a most commendable record 
in connection with the duties of that office. When the United States en- 
tered the great World War Mr. Cason was among the young professional 
men who gave up professional life for the more ardous tasks of military 
life. He entered the Officers Training Camp at Camp McLean, Chicka- 
mauga Park, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and was commissioned a first lieu- 
tenant and assigned to the Sixth Lifantiy Division of the regular army. 
He spent one year in active duty overseas, going in line at Grand Pre 
and ending up back of Sedan. He spent five weeks in the trenches and 
participated in the famous Argonne Forest engagement. 

Mr. Cason married, November 25, 1915, Bess C. Turner, of Nash- 
ville, Tennessee. He is recognized as a lawyer of ability and fine special 
training who holds to high professional standards and has won success 
through his clear understanding and wise application of the law. He is, 
moreover, an active, aggressive citizen whose cooperation can be counted 
upon at all times when the city's welfare and upbuilding are involved. 

ARTHUR INI. GRIFFIXG 

Arthur M. Griffing, horticulturist, controlling the Griffing Tropical 
Nurseries and Groves and developer of large and important real estate 
interests, is recognized as one of the substantial business factors of the 
city, whose activities have been an element in advancing the general 
progress of the community and aiding municipal expansion. Mr. Griffing 
is a native of Norwich, New York, born June 11, 1875, and he is a son of 
David C. and Marilla (Hillard) Griffing, both of whom were also natives 
of the Empire State. David C. Griffing is a resident of Miami, his wife 
being deceased. 

Arthur M. Griffing was nine years of age when his father removed 
to near Jacksonville, Florida, where he received a public school educa- 
tion. He came to Miami in 1902 and here established the Griffing Tropical 
Nurseries and Groves, devoting particular attention to the cultivation 
of citrus fruit trees and to tropical ornamental trees and shrubbery. He 
is considered an expert in horticultural development, having given close 
and exhaustive study to the subject of tropical cultivation. Mr. Griffing 
is also a force in the general business development of Miami and Dade 
County, having successfully developed a number of the most desirable 

223 



sub-divisions and groves in the city and county. About nine years ago 
he and his associates began the extensive development of Silver Palms 
Redland Groves, lying twenty-five miles southwest of Miami. Here they 
controlled six hundred and forty acres, all but one hundred and fifty acres 
of which they successfully disposed of. About eight years ago Mr. Griffing 
developed and opened Biscayne Heights, north of Miami, which they en- 
tirely sold. Three years ago he opened the beautiful Miami Heights sub- 
division, one of the most attractive residential properties in the city. 
Mr. Griffing is the owner of seven hundred acres advantageously located 
along the Dixie Highway, north of Miami, comprising Biscayne Park 
Estates, which they have recently developed and placed on the market. 
This is a particularly valuable property and one of the most beautiful 
and high-class sub-divisions of the city. 

Mr. Griffing married, July 1, 1901, Alabama Beatrice Wing, a native 
of Alabama, and they have four children: Mertlow, Marilla Beatrice, 
Esther Lucille and Charles Wing. As a business man he is far-sighted, 
discriminating and resourceful, and as a citizen progressive and public- 
spirited, giving his support to all movements that will redound to the 
advancement of the community and promote the intellectual and moral 
status. 

THOMAS S. DAVENPORT 

Thomas S. Davenport, president of the Davenport & Rich Invest- 
ment Company, Incorporated, and one of the prominent real estate brokers 
of Miami, was born in Madison County, Florida, November 14, 1882. He 
is a son of Wilbur H. and Martha J. (Calhoun) Davenport, the former 
a native of the State of Georgia and the latter born in Madison County 
Florida. The parents now reside in Madison County, Florida, where the 
father is engaged in farming. 

Thomas S. Davenport was educated in the public schools of his native 
county, supplemented by a normal course at Punniak Springs, Florida, and 
a business course at the Stanley Business College, Macon, Georgia. He 
taught school in Madison and Brevard counties and later was for one 
year engaged in the mercantile business in Madison county. He came 
to Miami in March, 1907, and here became associated with Cooley & 
Homer, one of the pioneer real estate firms, having charge of their rental 
department for a period of three years. He then removed to the State 
of Oklahoma and was there engaged in the oil business for six months. 
Returning to Miami, he was connected with E. A. Waddell in the real 
estate business for two years. In 1911 he engaged in the real estate 
business for himself. In 1916 Thomas W. Rich became associated with 
him and the firm operated as Thomas S. Davenport Company until January, 
1920, when the Davenport & Rich Investment Company was incorporated 
with a capitalization of $50,000, which has since been increased to $300,000. 
They specialize in high-class beach and close-in properties, and have 

224 



handled some of the most important transactions of the city. The corpo- 
ration is now erecting a modem nine-story hotel building at 214 Second 
Avenue Northeast, where they maintain well-equipped offices. 

On October 11, 1905, Mr. Davenport married Valdez Miller, of Funniak 
Springs, Florida, and they are the parents of four children : Lucius, Irma. 
Stanley and Billy. Mr. Davenport is treasurer of the Miami Realty Board 
and otherwise active in civic affairs. He is a man of wide experience 
and constructive ability, deeply interested in the progress and develop- 
ment of Miami. 

AR:M STEAD BROWN 

AiTnstead Brown, senior member of the lav/ firm of Brown, Twyman 
& Scott, is numbered among those who have lent dignity and honor to 
the legal profession and wielded marked influence in the broad domain 
of public life. He brought to the bar of Dade County a record of dis- 
tinguished official service and high professional attainments that accorded 
him immediately a foremost rank among the leaders of the local bar. Mr. 
Brown is a native of Talbotton, Georgia, born June 6, 1875, and is a son 
of Henry Clay and Susan Agnes (Dowdell) Brown, the former a native 
of Georgia and the latter of Alabama. The father resides in Miami, the 
mother being deceased. 

Mr. Brown was educated in the public schools and as a young man 
took up the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1897 and 
began his professional practice at Lafayette, Alabama. He was county 
solicitor of Chambers County, Alabama, 1898-1902, and register in chan- 
cery during the same period. In 1905 he removed to Montgomery, Ala- 
bama, and on February 12, 1909, he was appointed associate judge of the 
city court of Montgomery, and in November, 1910, was elected to this posi- 
tion for the term expiring in 1917. He resigned this position February 15, 
1915. As a citizen of Montgomery he was a director of the Montgomery 
Bank and Trust Company, a director of the Alabama Fidelity and Casualty 
Company, and a director of the Highland Realty Company. He came to 
Miami in December, 1917, and in 1918 formed his present professional 
association as a member of the firm of Brown, Twyman & Scott. Mr. 
Brown is division counsel for the Florida East Coast Railroad Company, 
the Florida East Coast Hotel Company, the Peninsular & Occidental Steam- 
ship Company, and other important corporate interests, while the firm 
of Brown, Twyman & Scott numbers among its clients the Miami Electric 
Light Company, the Miami Water Company and the West Palm Beach 
Water Company. 

Mr. Brown married November 21, 1901, Elizabeth Dowdell, of Mont- 
gomery, Alabama. He is a member of the Methodist Church and served 
as president of the Alabama Bible Society and president of the Alabama 
Sunday School Association. He is a member of the American Bar Associa- 

225 



tion and the Alabama and Florida State Bar Associations, and the Ala- 
bama Libraiy Association. Fraternally he is a Mason, and his club af- 
filiations include memberships in the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club and the 
Miami Country Club. 

JUDGE ALLEN E. HEYSER 

Judge Allen E. Heyser, referee in Bankruptcy in the United States 
District Court for the Miami Division, who was for more than 20 years 
county judge of Dade County, is today one of the most distinguished jurists 
in this section of the state and a man whose activities are destined to fonn 
a part of its legal, judicial and educational history. He is recognized as a 
man of evenly balanced mind and splendid intellectual attainments, thor- 
oughly alive to the vital questions and issues of the day, while as a lawyer 
he has won in Miami a position of importance and distinction. Judge Hey- 
ser was born in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, July 31, 1857, and is a 
son of Rev. Emanuel and Hannah (Schrauger) Heyser, both natives of the 
Keystone State and the former for many years a minister in the Church of 
Brethren. Rev. Emanuel Heyser died at Palm Beach, Florida, in 1892, 
having sui-vived his wife for many years, her death having occurred in 
Pennsylvania in 1858. 

In the acquirement of an education Judge Heyser attended public 
school in his native state and in 1873 came south to Georgia and located at 
Madison, where he studied law and formed a professional association with 
Hon. F. C. Foster. He was admitted to the bar and practiced before the 
courts of Georgia until 1881, when he came to Florida and took up his 
residence in what is now Palm Beach but which was then only a little 
hamlet known as Lake Worth. He came to Palm Beach to buy the Brels- 
ford place, on which now stands the Flagler hotels, but found the place 
already sold and so engaged in other activities. He did what little legal 
business there was to do in the community and in 1883 he was appointed 
county judge by Governor Bloxham, but his duties were merely nominal, 
as this was more than a decade before the railroad was built to that point. 
Some two or three years later Judge Heyser was made county superin- 
tendent of education and in this capacity had the distinction of establish- 
ing the first public schools in Dade County, the first one having been opened 
at Palm Beach, the second at Coconut Grove, the thii-d at Lemon City and 
the fourth at Miami. After that other schools were instituted in due order 
and the present school system, embracing the three counties then included 
in Dade County, became firmly established. Judge Heyser considers this 
the most important and constructive work of his official career. He was 
also about the time above referred to made a member of the board of county 
commissioners and for a period of several years he served both as county 
superintendent and county commissioner, being at the same time nominally 
county judge. He had no duties in connection with the latter office until 
about the year 1888, when with the increasing development of the county 

226 




JUDGE A. E. HEYSER 



the section began to be more thickly populated. In that year he was elected 
to the office and afterward held it for over 20 years, or until 1909, removing 
to Miami with the change of county seat in 1899. At this time Dade County 
included all of what is now Palm Beach and Broward counties and the 
county judge was also judge of the county criminal court. While serving 
as county judge he was also legal adviser of the board of county commis- 
sions and he held this position at the time when the first issue of bonds 
was made for the building of rock roads in Dade County. As chairman of 
the Miami board of school trustees, Judge Heyser led the campaign which 
resulted in the erection of Miami's present central school building. After 
retiring from the bench Judge Heyser devoted his attention to private prac- 
tice. About 1911 he was appointed Referee in Bankruptcy in the United 
States District Court for the Miami Division. 

Judge Heyser married, February 19, 1885, Mattie A. Spencer, of Palm 
Beach, who is a native of Pennsylvania, reared in Baltimore, Maryland. 
They have one son, Stuart Putnam Heyser. Fraternally, the judge is con- 
nected with the Masonic order, and he has served as secretary of the blue 
lodge, high priest of his chapter and recorder of his commandery. He also 
has served as past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, while his religious 
views are in accordance with the doctrines of the Episcopal church. He 
belongs to the Dade County Bar Association, of which he is an ex-presi- 
dent, and he is a member also of the Florida State Bar Association. Since 
his residence hei'e he has been recognized as one of the most prominent 
and influential citizens of Miami and there has not been a trust reposed in 
him which he has not creditably discharged. He is today undoubtedly one 
of the most able members of the bar in this section of the state and he re- 
ceives from the entire legal profession that honor and respect which is ac- 
corded only in recognition of superior personal or professional merit. 

GEORGE AMBROSE WORLEY 

An enumeration of those men of the present generation in Dade 
County who have won honor and public recognition for themselves and 
at the same time have honored the community to which they belong, 
must needs include Judge G. A. Worley, of Miami, eminent as a lawyer 
and citizen, and one who has ably represented his district in the halls 
of the State Legislature. A man of unusual force and eminence, he has 
wielded marked influence in his profession and in the broad domain of 
public life, yet his entire accomplishment but represents the result of the 
fit utilization of the innate talent which is his, and the directing of his 
efforts along those lines where mature judginent and rare discrimination 
lead the way. 

Judge Worley is a native of Virginia, born at Wytheville, Wythe 
County, that State, August 31, 1866, and he is a son of Rev. Ambrose 
Gaines and Elizabeth (Worley) Worley. The Worley family record in 
England goes back for many generations and was apparently of continental 

227 



origin rather than of the original British stock. The family came to 
America during the colonial days, first settling in Virginia, and later 
members of the family moving to Tennessee. The American progenitor 
of the family was Joseph Nathan Worley, who settled near Morristown, 
Tennessee, in 1755. His son, also named Joseph Nathan Worley, sei'ved 
in the Colonial Army during the Revolutionary War. Joseph Worley, 
grandfather of Judge Worley, was a prominent furniture manufacturer, 
while the paternal grandmother of the Judge was Sallie Gaines, a daughter 
of Samuel Dalton Gaines, the well known Indian fighter and political orator 
of Kentucky, who resided in Somerset, that State. Rev. Ambrose Gaines 
Worley, father of the subject of this review, was a Methodist minister 
of much prominence; in fact, one of the ablest pulpit orators of his time 
in the United States. His active career was spent in Virginia, Kentucky, 
Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and the two Carolinas, and for over thirty 
years he was one of the highest officials in the Virginia and Georgia Metho- 
dist Episcopal conferences. 

Judge George A. Worley's early boyhood was spent in Georgia, and 
when he was twelve years of age his father, being desirous that his son 
should follow in his footsteps and become a minister of the Gospel, sent 
him to the Emory College in Georgia. The son was, however, very much 
disinclined to study for the ministry and, being possessed of great decision 
of character, ran away from the institution the next day after he entered 
it. He made his way south to Florida and for some time after his ar- 
rival "roughed it" along the St. Johns River as a member of a lumber 
crew, his duties being to do quickly whatever he was told to do. In pay- 
ment for these services he received his board and lodging, and he spent 
two years in this manner. In 1880, when he was fourteen years of age, 
he went to Texas and was there employed on a cattle ranch. Returning 
to Florida the following year, he found employment with a surveying 
party, who were surveying a four million acre tract of everglade land, 
remaining with them for a year and a half. Returning to Georgia, he 
settled in Washington, where he read law under Hon. Robert Toombs. 
He was admitted to the bar at Lexington, Georgia, when he was but 
eighteen years of age. He quickly won recognition in Georgia, and three 
years after his admission to the bar he was elected judge of his county. 
As a criminal lawyer Judge Worley has gained wide distinction, being- 
well known at the bars of Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and North and 
South Carolina, as well as Florida. From 1884 to 1887 Judge Worley 
resided at Kissimmee, Florida, and since 1896 has been in Miami, where 
he is numbered among the most forceful and able lawyers of the local 
bar. He is an orator of great power and ability and had the distinction 
of delivering the first Fourth of July oration in Miami on Independence 
Day, 1896. In 1912 he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives 
and his ability gained for him a high place among the leading legislators of 
the State. 

228 



Judge Worley married, November 5, 1886, Mary Kramer Headley, 
of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a daughter of Captain Philip D. Head- 
ley, who commanded the Louisiana Tigers during the Civil War. Judge 
and Mrs. Worley have six children: Mary Kramer, wife of Ben Shepard, 
clerk of the Circuit Court of Dade County; George Ambrose, Jr., who is 
practicing law in association with his father ; Christine Elizabeth ; Sarah 
Gladys; Katrina; and Lee McBride. 

Judge Worley is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
and belongs to the Country Club of Jacksonville. He is one of the best 
known men in southern Florida today and is a familiar figure in Miami, 
where his great height and bulk distinguish him in any gathering. He is 
a man of brains and personality, whose mental powers match well his 
great physique and the greatness of whose attainments places him among 
the leading and substantial citizens of Florida. 

GEORGE C. STEMELER 

George C. Stembler, general insurance broker and successful business 
man, identified with Miami interests for a number of years, is a native 
of the city of Baltimore, Maryland, where he was born August 30, 1882. 
He is a son of William H. and Ann (Armstead) Stembler, both of whom 
also were natives of the State of Maryland. The Stembler family history 
in Maryland may be traced back for a period of two hundred years. Wil- 
liam H. Stembler is deceased and his widow still resides in Baltimore. 

George C. Stembler was reared in his native city of Baltimore and 
received his primary education in the public schools there. He then entered 
the Maryland Institute of Mechanical Drafting, where he was a student 
for three years, following which he spent eighteen months on the Isthmus 
of Panama, where he was in the wood work department of the Panama 
Railroad. He entered the insurance business in 1906 at Atlanta, Georgia, 
as agent and assistant superintendent of the Life Insui'ance Company of 
Virginia, and was thus engaged for a period of five years. In 1913 he 
came to Miami and entered the insurance field, and here he has established 
one of the important brokerage agencies of the city, building up a sub- 
stantial patronage through his energetic efforts and business capacity. In 
addition to his insurance business, to which he gives his personal attention, 
he is identified with profitable mercantile interests in the ownership of two 
popular cigar and confectionery establishments, one located at Flagler 
and B Streets and one at Flagler and G Streets. 

Mr. Stembler married March 4, 1914, Bessie Sleigh, of Miami, who 
is a native of the city. He is a member of the board of directors of the 
Miami Exchange Bank and active in the commercial life of the community. 



229 



PAN AMERICAN COLLEGE OF COMMERCE 

The welfare, growth and progress of any community depends to a 
rarely appreciated extent upon the educational facilities which it offers 
to its young people, upon the stability, high standards and modern methods 
of its educational institutions and upon the spirit in which these institu- 
tions are regarded by the people at large. South Florida, and more espe- 
cially the city of Miami, has reason to be proud of the Pan American 
College of Commerce and proud of the men whose spirit have made so 
splendid an institution possible and whose knowledge and ability have 
maintained in it the very highest educational ideals. 

The Pan American College of Commerce is one of the finest, most 
modern and most progressive institutions of its kind in the South, up to 
date in its standards and requirements, thoroughly complete in equipment, 
and, above all, high in its purposes and aims. It was founded in 1915 
and is an affiliated unit of the Pan American University. To W. J. Liddy, 
president of the college, is due much credit for its success and high 
standing. Mr. Liddy came into control of the institution in 1919 and his 
administrative capacity and executive ability soon established the col- 
lege on a firm basis. Possessing an initiative spirit and the power of 
planning, coordinating and systematizing, he has displayed that organiz- 
ing ability and resourcefulness essential in the promotion of large and 
important enterprises. The college gives instruction in all the subjects 
that properly belong to a modern business training school, and its faculty 
and advisory board are of a high order. A number of the most dis- 
tinguished men of Miami, leaders in the professional and commercial life 
of the city, serve the college in an advisory capacity and make occasional 
talks to the student body on various subjects beneficial to their welfare. 
The college is centrally located in the business district of Miami, occupying 
the second story front of the Henderson Building, with five thousand 
square feet of floor space, affording a capacity for two hundred students. 

W. J. Liddy, president of the Pan American College of Commerce, is 
a native of North Ireland, bom August 18, 1861. He is a son of Joseph 
and B. (Galvin) Liddy, natives of Ireland. Mr. Liddy was educated at 
Belhavel, Ireland, where he received an academic training equal to our 
high school course. He qualified as a teacher in Ireland, but when eighteen 
years of age he came to the United States, and for a number of years 
was identified with important corporate and business interests in the 
Middle West. He was Vice-President and director of the Union Life In- 
surance Company of Illinois and of the United Realization Company, a 
financial corporation. He was also a general agent of the National Life 
of the United States, the Equitable Life of Iowa and the Royal Union In- 
surance Company of Iowa. He came to Miami in 1918 and in 1919 secured 
control of the Pan American College of Commerce. 

Mr. Liddy married, October 13, 1886, Marie A. Larson, of Chicago, 

230 



and they have two children: Leslie W., a civil engineer for the Baltimore 
& Ohio Railroad, at Medina, Ohio; and Pearl M., wife of Walter S. Tre- 
leaven, of Chicago. 

Mr. Liddy is a member of the First Baptist Church of Miami. He is 
a citizen of high ideals whose influence is a tangible force for good in 
the community and the school which he has fostered is a credit to his 
ability, as well as a valuable addition to the educational resources of 
the State. 

ROBERT H. THOMPSON 

One of the pioneers of south Florida whose residence in Coconut 
Grove extends over a period of thirty-three years, is Robert H. Thomp- 
son, who was for over a half a century connected with the United States 
Government lighthouse service and who is now living in honorable retire- 
ment after a record of service perhaps unequalled in the annals of local 
histoiy. Mr. Thompson was born at Nassau, Bahama Islands, July 
31, 1842, a son of John T. and Margaret Thompson, both of whom also 
were natives of Nassau. Robert Thompson came to Key West, Florida, 
when he was eighteen years of age, and from that time until his retire- 
ment eight yeai's ago was actively engaged in the Government lighthouse 
service. His tenure of service carried him through all of the Civil War, 
as the Federal forces were in control of the lighthouse stations, and 
he recounts many thrilling experiences of those stirring days. He was 
stationed at the Sambraro Lighthouse, situated between Miami and Key 
West, when the first gun of the Civil War was fired, and after that time 
they slept with their guns in fear of attack. He has resided in Coco- 
nut Grove for over thirty-three years and is familiar with that section's 
early history and settlement. He married Julia Frow, and she and eight 
of their ten children are living. The parents make their home with their 
son, James S. Thompson, who was born at Key West, Florida, August 
19, 1876, and who, like his father, has been attracted by the life of a 
sea-faring man. James S. Thompson has followed the sea as a captain 
in charge of various vessels. He is the owner of the yacht Yuma, which 
he operates as a charter boat, plying the waters of Biscayne Bay and the 
Florida Keys. This is a substantial, 18-horsepower boat, of standard 
requirements. Mr. Thompson is an experienced and capable pilot, and 
has been the owner of the Yuma for ten years, during which time he has 
served many distinguished parties. He also has the distinction of pilot- 
ing the boat that first brought Henry M. Flagler down Biscayne Bay to 
see Mrs. Julia D. Tuttle. He also was instrumental in saving the life 
of Mr. Ingraham, of the Florida East Coast Railroad, when Mr. Ingraham 
was making his first trip down here. After an explosion on board the 
launch on which Mr. Ingraham was traveling, Mr. Thompson sustained 
his life by keeping him above water for eight hours. 

James S. Thompson married, November 28, 1907, Florence Murray, 

231 



a native of Bailey, Michigan, but who has lived in Florida since a child, 
being a daughter of Horace B. Murray, who came to Florida twenty-five 
years ago and settled at Boynton, where he still resides. Mrs. Thompson 
is the first white child to put her feet on the soil of Boynton. Mr. and Mrs. 
James S. Thompson have two children : Maurice and Kathryn. The family 
is widely and popularly known and its representatives have figured hon- 
orably in the histoiy and development of the county. 

JOHN NEWTON LUMMUS 

Broad, varied and important are the activities with v/hich John New- 
ton Lunimus has been connected and he stands as a central figure in the 
promotion and development of large and important undertakings that have 
had a far-reaching influence upon the material growth of south Florida. 
Hs has been a founder, a builder and a developer, and in the initiation and 
promotion of large corporate and business interests has left the impress 
of his work and his personality upon community history. As a pioneer 
in the development of Miami Beach, as a representative of financial inter- 
ests and a factor in important business concerns he has, through successive 
stages of his career given tangible proof of his ability as a promoter and 
organizer. 

Mr. Lummus was born in Bronson, Levy County, Florida, December 
25, 1873, the youngest son of Ezekiel S. and Frances J. (Epperson) Lum- 
mus, natives of Georgia, who removed to Florida in 1867. He lived in 
Bronson until after he was 14 years of age and then began learning 
telegraphy, studying for a time in his native city but finally going- to Ocala. 
Afterward, for a period of 20 years, he was engaged as a telegraph operator 
in various parts of the west and northwest, as well as in Florida, spending 
the last five years of this time as chief train dispatcher of the Atlantic 
Coast Line, located at Sanford. Resigning that position, he came to Miami, 
where at first he became associated with his brother, J. E. Lummus, in 
filling a large commissary contract with the Florida East Coast Railway 
in connection with the building of the exension line from Miami to Key 
West. In 1908 Mr. Lummus tui-ned his attention to the abstract business, 
and from that time to the present has been identified with the Dade County 
Title, Insurance & Trust Company, being at this time president of the 
concern. He was one of the founders and organizers of the Southern Bank 
& Trust Company in 1911 and became its first president. Mr. Lummus was 
among the first to visualize the possibilities of improvement of Miami 
Beach and was a pioneer in the development work of that favored section. 
His operations there began in March, 1913, when he bought all of what 
was originally known as Ocean Beach from Charles H. Lun and Edmund 
D. Wilson, of Red Bank, New Jersey. He then incorpoi-ated the Ocean 
Beach Realty Company, of which he was the active principal, and immedi- 
ately began development work at the south end of the beach. A few months 

232 




J. N. LUMMUS 



later he met Carl G. Fisher and they entered into a contract to develop 
the entire province. The south portion of the peninsula, embracing the six 
hundred acres now known as Miami Beach, was developed by Mr. Lummus' 
company. Soon after contracting with Mr. Fisher, they contracted with 
a construction company for the removal of approximately six million cubic 
yards of material. In 1918 Mr. Lummus sold all of his interests in the 
beach properties, excepting his residence, to the Miami Ocean View Com- 
pany. Credit is also due Mr. Lummus for his activities in connection with 
the promotion and building of the Cau.seway, connecting Miami and Miami 
Beach. He was largely instrumental in the success of this project. It was 
necessary to get the voters to authorize a bond issue of six hundred thou- 
sand dollars to finance this enterprise, and the success of the whole project 
is due in a large measure to the ability, enterprise and hard work of Mr. 
Lummus and his brother and their friends. 

Mr. Lummus married, June 13, 1894, Lula Elizabeth James, a native of 
Tallahassee, and they have four children : Emma Marie, Newton Edward, 
Helen Jeannette, and Thomas James. He is a typical man of the age, alert 
and entrprising, with marked fertility of resource, and in the work of 
general advancement he has played a conspicuous and notable part and 
ranks with the representative men of the South. 

I. M. CASSEL 

The spirit of modern business demands executive talent and business 
sagacity of a high order. The development of the modern department 
store as a business institution presents complex problems of organization 
and responsibility. Every business institution, however simple or com- 
plex its organization, possesses a distinct personality entirely aside from 
the merit of its merchandise or the legitimacy of its methods. There is 
an inherent power in organization that intensifies the expression of the 
purposes for which a business is established, provided individual initiative 
is not crushed and individual responsibility is not diminished. One of the 
progressive young business men of Miami who represents this spirit of 
co-operation and development is I. M. Cassel, of the firm of Cromer & 
Cassel, proprietors of the New York Department Store, who as one of the 
directors of a large organization has adopted the policy of mutual interest 
and mutual co-operation, the division of responsibility and the concentra- 
tion of energies to a single purpose. He endeavors to so select and place his 
men that they develop as men and at the same time blend their energies 
and efforts together harmoniously in the development of ideas that only 
the highest type of organization is capable of expressing. 

Mr. Cassel is a native of the city of New York, born October 14, 1887, 
and he is a son of Maurice and Rae Cassel, both of whom were natives of 
Poland, who came to America when they were children. The father died 
when the subject of this sketch was two years old ; the mother resides in 

233 



Miami. Mr. Cassel acquired a high school education in the schools of his 
native city and began his business career as an employee of the Cumber- 
land Shirt Manufacturing Company of New York city, with whom he was 
associated for a period of nine years. He then engaged in the manufac- 
turing business for himself in New York, along the line of his former ex- 
perience, which he successfully conducted until his removal to Miami in 
the fall of 1913. Here he became associated with his brother-in-law, 
Daniel Cromer, in the New York Department Store. His efficient service 
and constructive business ability were duly recognized and in 1919 he 
became a partner in the establishment, which is one of the largest and most 
popular department stores of the South, doing an annual business of three- 
quarters of a million dollars. In the development of the business Mr. 
Cassel has had a worthy part and has won for himself an enviable repu- 
tation as a resourceful and far-sighted business man, whose methods repre- 
sent modern standards and the highest business ideals. Mr. Cassel has 
other important business interests in the joint ownership with his brother- 
in-law of the Crosel Apartments and the Bay View Apartments, two high- 
class properties of the city. 

Mr. Cassel possesses musical talent of a high order, being a piano 
player and composer of note. His musical education began when twelve 
years of age. He studied with Augusta Kahn, a celebrated New York 
teacher, and a few years later took up study at the Music School Settle- 
ment under Mrs. HershofF, one of the foremost pupils of the late Edward 
A. McDowell. Since his residence here Mr. Cassel has been prominent in 
Miami musical circles, having been the accompanist for the Miami Trouba- 
dors for a period of two years and when they merged with the "Y" singers 
he was accompanist for the latter organization until the demands of his 
business precluded further active interest. He is a member of the Miami 
Y. M. C. A. and a member of the I. 0. B. B. Fraternally he is affiliated with 
the Elks and the Knights of Pythias. He is numbered among the popular 
young business men of the city and has attained that success which comes 
only in recognition of merit and ability. 

H. H. EYLES 

H. H. Eyles, a representative member of the Dade County bar since 
1913 and a Miami citizen of high standing, is a native of Wadsworth, 
Ohio, born December 10, 1874. He is a son of William Newcomb and 
Caroline L. (Hard) Eyles, both of whom were also natives of Ohio. The 
father is deceased and the mother now resides at DeLand, Florida. 

Mr. Eyles received a high school education in his native State. He 
later removed to Florida and became private secretary to the United 
States District Judge of the Southern District of Florida. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar at Jacksonville in 1901, and subsequently became Assist- 
ant United States District Attorney for the Southern District of Florida 

234 



during 1912 and 1913. In September, 1913, he removed to Miami, where 
he has since been actively engaged in the practice of his profession, rank- 
ing with the leading members of the local bar. He is admitted to prac- 
tice in the State and Federal courts and is widely recognized as an attorney 
whose knowledge of the law and its application is comprehensive and 
exact. Mr. Eyles served as a member of the Dade County Draft Board 
during the World War. He is known as a public-spirited citizen whose 
interest and activity in civic and community affairs arise from a patriotic 
devotion to the general good and his influence has been a tangible force 
in local aff'airs. 

Mr. Eyles married December 10, 1896, Sarah Gertrude McDougald, 
of Columbia, Alabama, and they have one daughter, Louise. 

ALONZO O. BLISS 

Among the men of wealth, culture and prominence whom the beautiful 
climate of Florida has attracted to Miami is numbered Alonzo 0. Bliss, who 
has extensive property interests here and in Washington, D. C, conducted 
under the corporate title of the Bliss Properties, Incorporated. Mr. Bliss is 
a native of Courtland County, New York, and received his education in 
the Courtland Academy there. He served during the Civil War as private 
orderly for General Kilpatrick, the great cavalry leader. At the close 
of the war he located in Washington, D. C, and there engaged in the pro- 
prietary medicine business and in real estate transactions, and in both 
fields has achieved a notable success. He is one of the largest individual 
holders of real estate in the city of Washington ; his properties there hous- 
ing over eight hundred families. He also maintains control of his pro- 
prietary medicine business there, the products of which are nationally 
known. He had been a frequent visitor to Florida before coming to Miami 
seventeen years ago, having spent ten winters before that in Jacksonville 
and five winters at Palm Beach. He came to Miami in 1903 and about 
five years later began investing here. He now has lai-ge holdings here, 
mostly business properties, and his interests require the maintenance of 
an office here to look after the property and the requirements of his fifty 
tenants. 

Mr. Bliss married Evelyn Jackson, of Washington, D. C, and they 
have one son, Alonzo Bliss, Jr. They have a beautiful home in Miami 
and spend a part of each season here. Mr. Bliss is not only an able and 
successful business man, but a most courteous and genial gentleman and 
has the confidence and high regard of all with whom he has been brought 
in contact. 

JOSIAH P. SAWTELLE 

Josiah P. Sawtelle, a highly respected citizen of Miami, conducting 
a popular apartment house, is a native of Mason, New Hampshire. His 
parents were Asa and Anna (Hastings) Sawtelle, the former born in Ash- 

235 



burnham, Massachusetts, and the latter a native of Rindge, New Hamp- 
shire. The parents are now deceased. Mr. Sawtelle was reared in his 
native State and there received a public school education. When fifteen 
years of age he went to New York, and later went West and was there 
engaged in farming pursuits for a period of ten years. He came to 
Florida in 1890, locating near Titusville. In 1902 he removed to Miami, 
and here he engaged in citrus fruit culture for a number of years. He 
then entered the building business and erected three substantial proper- 
ties on Seventh Street, including Winton Court and the Minneapolis apart- 
ment houses, attractive properties which he later disposed of, retaining 
the property where he now resides and where he is successfully conduct- 
ing one of the popular apartments of the city. His unifoi-m courtesy 
and kindly consideration for his guests has endeai'ed him to all who are 
fortunate enough to secure accommodations under his roof. Mrs. Saw- 
telle, whose maiden name was Mary Foster, shares with her husband the 
duties of their hospitable establishment. Mr. and Mrs. Sawtelle are 
members of the Christian Science Church and their Christian character 
and genuine worth have endeared them to a large circle of friends in 
Miami. 

LEVI C. GARDNER 

Levi C. Gardner, secretary, treasurer and general manager of the 
Tip-Top Grocery, Miami, was bora in Pitt County, North Carolina, Sep- 
tember 27, 1886. He is a son of George W. and Eliza (Dawson) Gardner, 
now deceased, both of whom were also natives of Pitt County, North 
Carolina. Mr. Gardner was educated at Grifton High School, at Griffon, 
North Carolina, and at A. & M. College at Raleigh, North Carolina. Leav- 
ing college, he took up work with the Southern and the Adams Express 
companies as an express messenger, and was thus engaged for a period 
of four years, doing duty on the Pennsylvania and the Atlantic Coast 
Line railroads, principally between Jacksonville, Florida, and Philadel- 
phia, Pennsylvania. In 1912 he came to Miami and became associated 
with his brother, R. C. Gardner, in the grocery business, assuming charge 
of the store at 822 Avenue D, which he successfully operated for eight 
years. Their present establishment on Miami Avenue was incorporated 
in 1919 as the Tip-Top Grocery Company. Here they have large and com- 
modious quarters, occupying a building fifty by eighty-eight feet and hav- 
ing 8,800 square feet of floor space. They operate a complete grocery 
and meat market, with vegetable and fruit departments, supplying many 
hotels and yachts, and doing a volume of business aggregating $350,000 
annually. The establishment is conducted on the popular groceteria or 
"cash and carry" plan, and engages the sei-vices of twenty people. 

Mr. Gardner was married October 27, 1917, to Millie Mae McCann, 
daughter of Joseph P. McCann, who controls an important tourist agency 
in New York City. He is a member of the Christian Church, is a Blue 

236 



Lodge and Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Elks and the Modern 
Woodmen. He is one of the popular young business men of the city, a 
citizen whose influence is a tangible force for good in the community. 

BART A. RILEY 

Bart A. Riley, one of the younger and, by consensus of public opinion, 
one of the most able members of the Miami bar, is a native of Brooklyn, 
New York, where he was born October 10, 1886. He is a son of Bernard 
J. and Mary F. (Delaney) Riley, both of whom are also natives of the 
city of Brooklyn, where they still reside. Mr. Riley was reared in Brook- 
lyn and received a high school education in the schools of that city. In 
1906 he became official court reporter at Key West, Florida, in which city 
he resided until he came to Miami in 1914 as official court reporter of the 
Eleventh Judicial Circuit, having held this position continuously from 1910 
to 1917 by virtue of appointments from Governor Gilchrist and Governor 
Trammel. During a part of this time he also acted as Assistant State 
Attorney for the counties of Dade, Palm Beach and Broward. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar at Miami in 1914. His course has been marked by steady 
progress and he now controls a large and representative clientele, con- 
necting him with much important litigation in the courts. He is well 
versed in the underlying principles of his profession and forceful in his 
application of them, being particularly successful in the conduct of criminal 
cases. 

Mr. Riley married August 31, 1910, Freeda J. Archer, of Key West, 
Florida, and they have one child, Bernard Richard Riley, born at Key 
West, January 22, 1912. 

ELI McDonald 

Eli McDonald, of the Dade Furniture Co., of Miami, is a native of 
Mississippi, born in Franklin County, that State, November 28, 1884, son 
of Donald and Lucy (Grisham) McDonald, both of whom were also natives 
of Mississippi, and both of whom are now deceased. The father was a 
farmer. Mr. McDonald received a country school education in the schools 
of his native community, where the educational facilities were some- 
what limited and inaccessible. He attended the country schools four 
months a year until he was fourteen years of age. As a boy he was 
engaged in farm work and utilized such opportunities as he had for self 
education and culture. He subsequently became a traveling salesman for 
a furniture company and in this capacity visited Miami, and on June 17, 
1917, bought the retail furniture business of C. M. Brown, Sr. The name 
of the establishment was changed to the Dade Furniture Company, which 
is today the largest retail furniture store in Dade County. Ben L Powell 
is associated with him in the enterprise. During their fiscal year, end- 
ing July 1, 1920, this firm did the largest retail furniture business of any 
concern in the State of Florida. 

237 



Mr. McDonald was married on September 18, 1901, to Eunice Oliver, 
of Franklin County, Mississippi. Of their nine children, eight are living: 
Wilbur, Luna, Venton, Virginia, Pat, Wilimena, Elizabeth, and Donald. 

Mr. McDonald is also president of the Avenue D Furniture Company, 
of Miami, director of the Miami Exchange Bank, member Democratic 
Executive Committee of Miami, and served for several years as a director 
of the Miami Chamber of Commerce. He is numbered among the most 
active, enterprising and progressive young men of the city, interested in 
any movement calculated to promote municipal growth or to advance the 
general development. 

ELLSWORTH C. BRUNNER, M. D. 

Well qualified by liberal educational training for the arduous duties of 
his profession. Dr. E. C. Brunner, throughout the period of his residence 
in Miami has enjoyed a substantial and discriminating practice and has 
the high regard of his professional brethren. Proper intellectual dis- 
cipline, thorough academic knowledge and the possession and utilization 
of the qualities and attributes essential to successful practice have earned 
for him a notable place among the scholarly and enterprising physicians 
and surgeons in a community long distinguished for the high order of its 
medical talent. Dr. Brunner is a native of Macon, Georgia, born October 
21, 1887, and he is a son of Norman I. and Edith (Grey) Brunner, 
the foi'mer bom in Savannah, Georgia, and the latter a native of Macon, 
Georgia. Valentine Brunner, the paternal grandfather of the subject of 
this review, was a native of Alexandria, Virginia, and during the Civil War 
had charge of the arsenal at Macon, Georgia. 

Dr. E. C. Brunner was reared in Macon, Georgia, and acquired his 
preliminary education in the schools of that city, graduating from the 
Gresham High School at Macon. He then entered Vanderbilt University, 
at Nashville, Tennessee, devoting one year to a literary course, and then 
entering the medical department, graduating from this institution in 1910, 
with the degree of M. D. Following his graduation he was interne at 
St. Thomas Hospital, Nashville, for a period of seven months, following 
which he was engaged in contract practice at Bauxite, Arkansas, which 
city was the field of his professional labors until 1914. In December of 
that year he came to Miami and here won quick recognition as an able 
and learned physician and surgeon and gained a large and lucrative prac- 
tice. He possesses a comprehensive knowledge of the underlying principles 
of medicine, adroit professional skill, and an understanding of the true 
and ultimate purposes of life, and these qualities have combined to form the 
principal elements in his large success. During the great World War Dr. 
Brunner rendered loyal service as an enlisted member of the American Ex- 
peditionary Forces. He was commissioned a first lieutenant of the Medical 
Corps and saw service with Mobile Hospital No. 105, which was a unit of 

238 





E. C. BRUNNER. M. D. 



the Fifty-second Artillery. He was on duty in France from September 29, 
1918, to March 4, 1919, returning with the Twenty-seventh New York 
Division, and being mustered out of service at Camp Custer, Michigan, 
May 14, 1919. He resumed his active practice upon his return and has 
since devoted his entire time to his large private practice and to his duties 
as acting assistant surgeon at Miami for the United States Government. 
He keeps in touch with the most advanced thought of his profession 
through his membership in the American Medical Association and the 
Flordia State and the Dade County Medical Society. He served as secre- 
tary of the Dade County Medical Society, resigning in 1917 to enlist for 
military service. 

Dr. Brunner married, December 24, 1913, Genevieve Uhlmann, of St. 
Louis, Missouri, and they have one child, Genevieve Edith. Fraternally 
he is a York Rite Mason and a member of Syracuse Lodge No. 72, Knights 
of Pythias, Macon, Georgia. His ability in his profession is the out- 
ward expression of many years of critical study and of extensive experi- 
ence in practice, and he conforms to the highest standards of professional 
ethics, having won in this way a high place in the regard of his brethren 
in the medical fraternity and in the respect and esteem of the local public. 

RAYINIOND M. DILLON 

Raymond M. Dillon, chief of the police department of the City of 
Miami and by virtue of his position a forceful factor in municipal affairs, 
is a native of Key West, Florida, born April 3, 1882. He is a son of George 
W. and Elizabeth P. (Albury) Dillon, the former a native of the State of 
Georgia and the latter born at Key West, Florida. George W. Dillon re- 
moved to Key West with his parents, who were natives of the State of 
Georgia. He was captain of the steamship Martinique, running from 
Key West to Miami and Nassau, and was well-known as a seaman. He 
died September 21, 1907, and his widow now resides in Miami, the family 
having removed here about 1898. 

Raymond M. Dillon was sixteen years of age when his parents removed 
to Buena Vista. They later built a home on Avenue B, which they sub- 
sequently disposed of and moved to Avenue L and Tenth street. Mr. 
Dillon was educated in the public schools of Key West. At the age of six- 
teen he went to sea with his father, and for eighteen years followed the life 
of a seaman on the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico 
and touching at the ports of New York, Philadelphia and Jacksonville. He 
holds a master's license for ocean steamers. He was for five years con- 
nected with the Key West extension. His last service on the sea was with 
the steamship Va7i, plying between Miami and Jacksonville. He then 
became associated with the sanitary department of the City of Miami as a 
sanitary inspector. In 1917 he was elected Chief of Police of the City of 
Miami, taking office November 1 of that year. He was re-elected in 1919, 

239 



his term of office expiring November 1, 1921. He has made an enviable 
record as an official, showing at all time a zealous regard for the public 
welfare and meeting the exacting problems of his department with rare 
judgment and firm determination. The rapid growth of the city has made 
the problem of police regulation a difficult undertaking, and the position 
of the chief of the department has been one requiring the utmost in tact, 
ability and judgment. During the World War there were over fifteen 
thousand soldiers encamped here, which gave an added responsibility to the 
police forces of the city, and during the tourist season the regulation of 
traffic becomes a strenuous task. Chief Dillon has met these problems with 
a full sense of his responsibility and his official record is that of an able, 
fearless official who knows his duty and does it. The personnel of his de- 
partment now numbers sixty-two men, and to him is largely due the credit 
of securing an increase of salary for his men. 

Mr. Dillon was married September 26, 1906, to Adelaide Moody, of 
Bartow, Florida, and they have four children : Melville, Elizabeth, Eugenia 
and Ruth. Fraternally, he is a Mason, in which order he has filled all the 
chairs, having been Master of Biscayne Bay Lodge No. 124 during 1918-19. 
He holds the confidence of the public in a generous measure and is an in- 
telligent, progressive citizen, actively interested in all public matters. 

ARREN T. CARTER 

One of the pioneer citizens of Miami who has won a substantial suc- 
cess is Arren T. Carter, conducting a sales market for horses, mules and 
cattle and the owner of important real estate properties. Mr. Carter's 
residence here dates from April, 1896, and since pioneer days he has been 
actively identified with various interests touching the growth and de- 
velopment of Miami and Dade County. Mr. Carter was born at Naylor, 
Lowndes County, Georgia, October 6, 1868. He is a son of Ferryman and 
Anna M. (Howell) Carter, both of whom were also natives of the State 
of Georgia, the latter now deceased. Ferryman Carter is a successful 
farmer who has lived at Naylor, Georgia, since the Civil War, having spent 
four years as a member of a Georgia regiment during the great conflict 
of the States. Arren T. Carter was reared on the farm and received a 
public school education. When twenty-one years of age he entered the 
Wilbur Smith Business College, at Lexington, Kentucky, and took a course 
in business training and telegraphy. He then took a position as telegraph 
operator at Wilingham, Georgia, and during the four years thus occupied 
he was absent only four days. Removing to Hillard, Florida, he utilized 
his savings and became a partner in the firm of Pratt & Carter, engaged 
in the mercantile and land business. They purchased sixteen thousand 
acres of land and secured a contract to furnish wood to the Savannah, 
Florida & Western Railroad. From Hilliard he moved to Jacksonville, 
where he purchased a wood and lumber yard and where he resided for one 

240 



year. He came to Miami in April, 1896, on the advice of J. R. Parrott, of 
the Florida East Coast Railroad, who was one of his customers. He es- 
tablished a small mercantile business at Coconut Grove, which he conducted 
for a brief time, but the lumber business and farming has claimed his at- 
tention for many years. In 1918 he established a sales market in Miami, 
dealing extensively in horses, mules and cattle, in the conduct of which 
he has been very successful. He is the owner of a farm of forty-five acres, 
west of Larkin, besides holding other valuable real estate properties over 
the county, as well as business properties in Miami and Key West. Mr. 
Carter relates interesting reminiscences of the early days in Miami. Re- 
counting his first visit to the city, he tells of the adventurous trip from 
Jacksonville on the old steamer Holyhock. The sea was turbulent and 
after a rough voyage the boat was unable to land in Biscayne Bay, but 
was compelled to go down to Elliott's Key, where they were stuck for six 
days. When the water calmed they left the steamer and came up in a 
row boat. Mr. Carter states that the first money he spent in Miami was 
ten cents for a piece of pie which he purchased of Mr. Graham, who was 
retailing his wares from the front steps of the old Brickel House. 

On May 6, 1898, Mr. Carter married Daisy B. Carey, of Coconut Grove, 
who is a native of Key West, Florida, born April 13, 1879. They have four 
children: Carl R., born January 27, 1900, is associated in business with his 
father; Ethlyn, graduate of Miami High School, class of 1921 ; Annabelle, a 
student in Miami schools, and A. T. Carter, Jr., aged seven years. Mr. 
Carter sei-ved one term as county commissioner of Dade County, being a 
member of the board at the time the present road was constructed to 
Palm Beach. He is a progressive and wide-awake business man of known 
reliability, and the success which has come to him is but the just reward 
of his own industry and good management. 

LOUIS A. ALLEN 

Louis A. Allen, who is serving with ability and distinction as sheriflf 
of Dade County, is a man to whom success has come by reason of his own 
indefatigable and well directed efforts. There is no one more entitled to 
the honorable attribute of self-made man than Mr. Allen, for he was thrown 
on his own resources at the age of thirteen and has won success in the 
world through self-reliance and unfaltering determination. The steps in 
his rise have been gradual and progressive and they have been taken along 
the road of hard work and untiring industry, but their directing forces 
have been at all times honorable and their results gratifying. 

Mr. Allen is a native of Florida, born at Brooksville, March 26, 1884. 
He is a son of Henry N. and Mary A. Allen, both of whom were natives of 
the State of Georgia. The father was a mill conti-actor and saw mill man 
and during the Civil War operated a train. He died when the subject of 
this sketch was eight years of age. The mother now resides at Arcadia, 

241 



Florida. Louis A. Allen attended the public schools of DeSoto and Lee 
Counties, Florida. When thirteen years of age he was obliged to quit 
school and go to work to support his mother and small brother. He went 
to work as a packer in a packing house when he was so small that he had 
to stand on a box to pack oranges. At eighteen years of age he was made 
manager of a large packing company and later went on the road as travel- 
ing solicitor and buyer for the H. C. Schrader Company, now the Standard 
Growers Exchange. During the great World War he became connected 
with the United States Marshal's office and in the spring of 1918 he was 
assigned to the Southern District of Florida, comprising five counties, with 
headquarters in Miami. He rendered efficient service in his capacity as a 
government oflficial and gained an enviable reputation as a fearless and 
aggressive officer. He was nominated in the primary of June, 1920, for 
sheriff of Dade County and was duly elected at the ensuing election in 
November. His record as sheriff" has been that of an earnest, conscientious 
officer, and his administration has been characterized by aggressive action 
toward law enforcement and the safeguarding of the best interests of the 
people. At all times he has endeavored to promote public progress through 
the exercise of his oflficial prerogatives and has discharged his oflficial duties 
with a conscientious sense of responsibility and with constant consideration 
for the public welfare. 

Mr. Allen married, September 3, 1908, Mary Louise Jenkins, who is a 
native of the State of Georgia, and they have three children: Louis Allen, 
Jr., age eleven; William Hugh, age eight; and Geraldine Louise, age five. 
A man of progressive tendencies, Mr. Allen is interested in all that pertains 
to the welfare of Miami and his popularity both as an official and as a 
citizen is attested by the friendship and loyalty of representative and 
substantial men in whose ranks he stands. 

IRWIN E. SCHILLING 

Irwin E. Schilling, president of the L E. Schilling Company, Miami, 
dealers in building materials and equipment, is by virtue of his high ability 
an influential factor in business circles of Miami. Possessing an initia- 
tive spirit, organizing and executive ability of a high order and the power 
of planning, coordinating and systematizing large and important enter- 
prises, he has displayed the ability and resourcefulness which place him 
among the few who establish standards and precedents in the business 
world. 

Mr. Schilling is a native of Green Bay, Wisconsin, born October 5, 
1883. He is a son of Louis C. and Pauline (Streckenbach) Schilling, both 
of whom were also natives of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Louis C. Schilling, 
who died in 1907, was a man of large and varied interests. His widow 
still resides at Green Bay. Irwin E. Schilling was educated in the schools 
of his native city, and at the age of eighteen became identified with im- 

242 




I. E. SCHILLING 



portant transportation interests in Wisconsin. He first became purser 
of a passenger steamer plying the waters of Green Bay, Lake Micliigan 
and Lake Huron, operated by the Green Bay Transportation Company. 
He was soon made superintendent of the company and later became secre- 
tary and general manager. His connection with the company dates from 
1900 to 1911, when the company disposed of their holdings. The coi-pora- 
tion operated docks and storage rooms and in connection with other in- 
terests conducted an extensive dockage business. This enabled Mr. Schill- 
ing to gain a valuable knowledge of the transportation problem in gen- 
eral and an intimate knowledge of the building material business, in which 
line he has been eminently successful. In the winter of 1911 he was taken 
ill and in January, 1912, decided to seek another climate. His company 
had recently sold the steamer Famiij Hart, which was brought to Miami 
waters. This interested him in Miami and later brought him here,, and 
so impressed was he with the opportunities here and he so improved in 
health that within thirty days after his arrival he formed a partnership 
with Raymond Waldin and established the Florida Rock Company. They 
bought some barges and purchased 150,000 yards of rock on Miami Canal 
banks and started selling rock for building operations. This was in Febru- 
ary, 1912. About one year later Mr. Schilling bought his partner's in- 
terest and changed the firm name to the I. E. Schilling Company, and in 
1917 the firm was incorporated with a capital of $50,000, which has since 
been increased to a capitalization of $250,000, all paid in. In 1914 Walter 
W. Schilling, a brother, became connected with the company, and is now 
vice-president of the corporation; he is a graduate of the University of 
Wisconsin, in Construction Engineering, and was formerly in the employ 
of the United States Government as an inspector of concrete construction 
of locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. 

The I. E. Schilling Company are dealers in building materials and 
equipment and contractors machinery. Their three yards are located at 
Sixth street and the railroad, River Drive and Avenue K and on the bay 
at Miami Beach. They maintain a stock room at Jacksonville and control 
the state agency for many lines. 

I. E. Schilling was married July 6, 1911, to Minnie Lawrence, of 
Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Their two boys, Louis C. and Jerome, were 
born in Miami. Mr. Schilling is a member of the Florida State Road 
Department by appointment of Governor Hardee, January 13, 1921, a 
position for which he is particularly well qualified, as he has for many 
years been interested in road building and the good roads movement. He 
is vice-president of the Monmouth Plumbing Supply Company, a new con- 
cern just opening for business. He is president of the Miami Motor Club, 
a director of the Miami Exchange Bank, and a director of the Miami 
Chamber of Commerce. He is also president of the local Building Supply 
Dealers Credit Association and a director of the National Building Supply 

243 



Dealers Association, and a director of the American Automobile Associa- 
tion. Progressive and public-spirited, he takes an interest in all public 
matters that affect the community. He has built along constructive lines 
and the large enterprise which he has fostered and promoted constitutes 
a valuable element in the growth of the community. 

THEODORE V. INIOORE 

Theodore V. Moore, who for many years was so extensively and prom- 
inently connected with the pineapple growing interests in Florida, that 
he was sometimes called the "Pineapple King," has since 1902 been a resi- 
dent of Miami and a force in the industrial and general business develop- 
ment of the city and of Dade County. He was interested in the cultivation 
of all kinds of citrus fruits for many years, and gave close and exhaustive 
study to the subject, his opinions being considered authoritative and being 
often quoted as standard. He was born in Person County, North Carolina, 
October 14, 1857, and is a son of the Rev. Theophilus W. Moore, a Method- 
ist clergyman and an author of ability. The father was born in North 
Carolina and from that State enlisted for the Civil War, serving as chap- 
lain of the Twenty-third North Carolina Regiment. He came to Florida 
in the early '70s as one of the pioneers in the St. Johns River district and 
he there developed a large orange grove, afterward giving a great deal 
of his time to fruit cultivation. He was the author of a book on orange 
culture which, it is believed, was the first of its kind ever published. He 
was for some time connected prominently with educational interests of 
the South, having been one of the original three trustees of Emory College 
in Oxford, Georgia, and at one time president of the old Leesburg College 
in Leesburg, Florida. The Moore family is one of the oldest in America 
and has a distinguished history since its foundation in the United States. 
It is of old North Carolina Revolutionary stock, Mr. Moore's paternal 
grandfather having been Dr. Portius Moore. 

Theodore V. Moore came to Florida in the early '70s with his parents 
but afterward returned to North Carolina, where he attended a military 
academy at Oxford. In 1891 he again took up his residence in this State, 
locating on the Indian River, and from that time his name has been prom- 
inently linked with the development of the pineapple industry on the lower 
Florida east coast. In October, 1902, he came to Dade County and since 
that date has resided in Miami, and up to 1920 gave his attention largely to 
pineapple growing. He is not only one of the original developers of the in- 
dustry in Dade County, but was at one time the largest grower of the 
fruit in the county and one of the largest individual pineapple growers in 
the State of Florida. He recently disposed of his grove acreage for sub- 
division purposes, the suburb of Biltmore constituting a portion of it. His 
labors during the years of his active career have been important, not alone 
as factors in his own prosperity but also as elements in the development 

244 




T. V. MOORE 



of one of the greatest industries in Florida, and to him the State owes a 
debt of gratitude for the able, effective and far-sighted work he has accom- 
plished along the lines of fruit cultivation. 

Mr. Moore married, July 31, 1895, Mary Sorensen, who at that time 
resided in Jensen, on the Indian River, but who was born in Wheeling, 
West Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Moore have three children : Theophilus Wil- 
son, born June 1, 1896; Mary Pauline, born November 23,. 1897; and 
Theodore Vivian, Jr., bom February 26, 1906. Mrs. Moore was for two 
years president of the Miami Women's Club and is prominent in church 
and social circles of the city. 

For many years Mr. Moore was a prominent and influential member of 
the Miami Board of Trade, which was reorganized as the Miami Chamber 
of Commerce, serving as its president for two terms and as chairman of 
the rivers and harbors committee. By reason of his connection with the 
pineapple and citrus growing industry and also by reason of his special 
qualifications for the duty, he was frequently called upon to go to Wash- 
ington and appear before the Congressional Committees in the interests 
of Miami and Dade County. He gives his political allegiance to the 
Democratic party. He represented St. John's County in the State Legis- 
lature in 1889, attending both the regular and special sessions, and his 
political career has been distinguished by broad-minded, able and far- 
sighted work in the public service. He is a member of the Rotary Club of 
Miami. Mr. Moore was elected January 21, 1921, a member of the com- 
mittee of fifteen, chosen to draft a new charter for the city of Miami. A 
man of enterprise, energy and determination, modern in his ideas and 
progressive in his standards, he has for many years wrought along con- 
structive lines of development and has left the impress of his work and 
personality upon the expansion of one of the greatest industries in the 
State of Florida. 

IRVING J. THOMAS 

The progress and development of any community depends to a rarely 
appreciated extent upon the enterprise and initiative of a comparatively 
few of its individual citizens. Numbered among the active business men 
and civic leaders of Coconut Grove is Irving J. Thomas, prominent real 
estate dealer and broker and banker, whose substantial enterprise and 
constructive ability has been a forceful element in the growth and develop- 
ment of that popular community. Mr. Thomas is a native of the city of 
Buffalo, New York, born March 28, 1877, and is a son of Henry and 
Katharine Thomas, both of whom are now deceased. The father was a 
prosperous shoe manufacturer and merchant of Buffalo for a number of 
years. 

Irving J. Thomas was reared in his native city and there acquired 
a good public school education, graduating from the Buffalo High School. 
Following his graduation, he was for a period of seven years an instructor 

245 



in the night schools of the city of Buffalo and at the same time became 
associated with the Standard Oil Company as cashier of their Buffalo 
office, and was thus engaged for nine years. Removing to Cleveland, 
Ohio, he became assistant sales and advertising manager of the H. Black 
Company, manufacturers of Wooltex coats and suits, and during his last 
two years with this company was virtually the acting head of this de- 
partment of that corporation. He came to Coconut Grove December 13, 
1913. Prior to this, however, he had become interested in the organiza- 
tion of the Sunshine Fruit Company, of Coconut Grove, and he was 
actively identified with the affairs of this corporation as secretary and 
treasurer until 1916. Since then he has been actively engaged in the real 
estate business, handling Coconut Grove and close-in properties ex- 
clusively. He has been very successful as a real estate dealer and has 
stimulated the general activity in Coconut Grove properties. 

During the World War Mr. Thomas entered the first officers' training 
camp at Fort McPherson, Georgia, where he made an enviable record 
and was recommended for a commission, but was subsequently disquali- 
fied on account of alleged physical disability. He is a member of Lindley 
DeGarmo Post, American Legion, of Coconut Grove. Fraternally he is 
a member of the Masonic order, being affiliated with Hiram Lodge No. 105, 
of Buffalo. 

Mr. Thomas married, November 28, 1901, Sadie A. Craik, of Buffalo. 
Their only child, a son, was killed in March, 1920. When Coconut Grove 
was incorporated in March, 1919, Mr. Thomas was chosen the first mayor 
and administered the duties of the oflRce with marked ability and singular 
devotion to the best interests of the community. He served one year, de- 
clining a renomination. A man of constructive intelligence and high busi- 
ness ideals, he ranks among the progressive leaders of the county and his 
worth as a citizen is widely recognized and acknowledged. 

JOHX FROHOCK 

John Frohock, one of the substantial and progressive citizens of 
Miami, who served capably in public office for many years, has many 
claims to the respect and esteem of the citizens of Dade County, for he 
has been one of the greatest individual forces in the development of the 
citrus fruit growing industry in this section of Florida, as well as a 
substantial contributor toward the upbuilding of the city of Miami. Mr. 
Frohock was born in Brunswick, Georgia, April 3, 1872, and is a son of 
Robert H. and Margaret (Pacetti) Frohock, who now reside in St. Marys, 
Georgia. The father was formerly engaged in farming and served as a 
private in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. After his dis- 
charge he became prominent in public life and held various important 
official positions, serving as judge of the city court at St. Marys and as a 
member of the school board. For a number of years he represented his 

246 




JOHN FROHOCK 



district in the Georgia State Legislature and displayed in the discharge of 
his official duties the same loyalty, energy and public spirit which marked 
his service on the southern battlefields. 

When John Frohock was twelve years of age he removed with his 
parents from Brunswick to St. Marys, Georgia, and his education was 
acquired in the public schools of both communities. At the age of eighteen 
he began earning his own livelihood, going to Fernandina, where for two 
years he served on the police force. From Fernandina he went to De Land 
and was there deputy sherifl" for four years, beginning in this way an 
identification with public life which has been varied in service and upright 
and honorable in standards and ideals. In 1896 he came South and located 
at Palm Beach, where he entered upon the duties of deputy Unoted States 
marshal, an office which he held for two years. However, he did not re- 
main all of this time in Palm Beach, but followed the railroad into Miami, 
his residence here dating from August, 1896. He was thus one of the 
pioneer settlers of Miami, and when he came here was obliged to camp in 
a tent. In 1899 he was elected city marshal of Miami and served for one 
year. In 1900 he was elected sheriff of Dade County, an office he held for 
eight years, having been reelected in 1904. He was one of the men who 
took an active and influential part in securing the removal of the court 
house from Palm Beach to Miami. He drove over the county and secured 
signers to the petition circulated for that purpose. After eight years of hon- 
orable and efficient service he retired from the sherifl"s office in January, 
1909, and devoted his attention to the growing of citrus fruits and Florida 
vegetables. He is not only one of the most extensive growers of grape 
fruit and avocado pears in the vicinity of Miami, but one of the largest 
shippers of the latter fruit in Dade County, as well as one of the largest 
growers and shippers of tomatoes. He owns four groves near Miami, upon 
which there are five thousand bearing grape fruit and pear ti'ees. He 
planted these trees and developed the property, which is one of the most 
valuable in this section of the State. His activities also include the con- 
struction and ownership of valuable business properties in the city of 
Miami. In January, 1918, he built the Dade Apartments on Miami Avenue. 
This is a modern business block of concrete construction. He is also the 
owner of two other business properties on Miami Avenue and a business 
block on Avenue E and Eleventh Street. 

Mr. Frohock is identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevo- 
lent Protective Order of Elks and is well known in social and fraternal 
circles of the city. He occupies a prominent place in the community and 
is widely and popularly known. His interests are thoroughly identified 
with those of this section of the State and he is interested in any move- 
ment calculated to benefit the section or advance its development. 

247 



W. W. SCHILLING 

Miami is fortunate in the character and career of her active men of 
Industry. Among those men who have succeeded in their special field of 
business and at the same time been instrumental in advancing the general 
business interests of the city is W. W. Schilling, vice-president of the I. E. 
Schilling Company, dealers in building materials and equipment. Well 
qualified by special training and experience, he has been an important fac- 
tor in the success and high standing of this well known company, and 
ranks among the enterprising and public-spirited men of the community. 
Mr. Schilling is a native of Green Bay, Wisconsin, born December 10, 1887, 
and is a son of Louis C. and Pauline (Streckenbach) Schilling, both of 
whom were also natives of Green Bay, Wisconsin. The father died in 
1907 and the mother continues to reside in Green Bay. 

W. W. Schilling acquired his education in the public schools of his 
native city, graduating from the Green Bay high school in 1906. He then 
entered the College of Engineering of the University of Wisconsin, at 
Madison, Wisconsin, graduating therefrom in 1912 with degree of Bache- 
lor of Science. He immediately took up engineering work, specializing 
in concrete, break-water and lock construction, in connection with the 
Greiling Brothers Company, of Green Bay. In 1913 he went with the 
United States Government as a construction engineer at Sault Ste. Marie, 
Michigan, and was engaged in lock construction there until his resigna- 
tion in Decembei", 1913, at which time he came to Miami. Early in 1914 
be became associated with his brother, I. E. Schilling, in the I. E. Schill- 
ing Company, where his training and experience have been especially 
valuable in connection with their concrete and building construction work. 
He is thoroughly familiar with modern construction problems, and his 
knowledge is based on scientific principles and their practical applica- 
tion as well. Mr. Schilling's other business interests include the Monmouth 
Plumbing Company in which he is a stockholder. 

Mr. Schilling married, August 28, 1917, Ruth Bailey, of Chippewa 
Falls, Wisconsin, and they have one son, Walter Bailey Schilling. Fra- 
ternally he is a thirty-second degree Mason, being a member of Biscayne 
Bay Lodge of Miami, Morroco Temple of Jacksonville, and Miami Shrine 
Club. He is also a member of the Elks. He is a charter member of the 
Civitan Club of Miami and a member of the Miami Chamber of Com- 
merce. He is recognized as a successful and influential business man and 
a progressive citizen interested in all that pertains to the welfare of Miami 
along lines of material expansion or moral and intellectual development. 



248 



GUS A. jMILLS 

Gus A. Mills, president of The Mills Corporation, owners of the Mills' 
San Carlos Hotel and Apartments, is one of Miami's pioneer business 
men, his residence in the city dating from 1896. During his long resi- 
dence here he has been identified in a substantial way with the general 
business development of the community, and he is today an active and 
influential factor in its continued progress and expansion. Mr. Mills is 
a native of Oldenburg, Germany, born December 13, 1854, and is a son 
of Christian Mills, a marble cutter by trade, who passed away before 
his son was born. Mr. Mills was reared and educated in Germany and, 
after laying aside his books, served a four years' apprenticeship at the 
painter's trade, completing the required time before he was seventeen 
years of age. In 1872 he came with his mother and three brothers to 
the United States, landing in New York on May 4. The family located 
at Long Island City, where they lived for some time, all having now 
passed away. Gus Mills followed his trade as a journeyman for a num- 
ber of years in the East and in 1895 came to Florida, assisting in the 
painting of all the Flagler hotels on the Florida east coast, including the 
Royal Poinciana at Palm Beach. He reached Miami February 9, 1896, 
several weeks before the railroad was completed to the city, and here he 
helped in the painting of the Royal Palm Hotel, serving as foreman. Mr. 
Mills arrived in Miami when there were but two finished houses in the city 
and when business enterprises were just being established. He has here re- 
sided almost continuously since that time, although in 1898 he made a 
trip to The Klondike in search of gold. He spent fourteen months in 
the Copper River region and from October 26, 1898, to February 9, 1899, 
was entirely alone, all of his companions having died of the scurvy. He 
himself had a severe attack of the disease but survived. Returning to 
Miami, Mr. Mills continued to work as a contracting painter until 1900, 
when he built the San Carlos Hotel, one of Miami's most popular hostelries. 
The San Carlos, with its substantial concrete anne.x, has one hundred and 
forty-five rooms, and, being situated right in the heart of the city, is 
a very valuable property. For twenty years Mr. Mills remained active 
in the supervision and management of the San Carlos, but of late years 
has leased the property. 

Mr. Mills married, October 26, 1879, Helen Stevens, of New York city, 
also a native of Germany. They have one son, Charles A. Mills, who is 
associated with his father in the management of his various interests. 
Mr. Mills is a member of the Catholic church, and is president of the 
building fund committee of the Church of the Holy Name. Fraternally 
he is connected with the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent Pro- 
tective Order of Elks. In April, 1913, at Tallahassee, he was elected presi- 
dent of the Florida State Elks Association. His business career has been 

249 



marked by that consecutive progress which follows persistent labor, in- 
telligently directed and upon ability, experience and energy he has founded 
a success which places him among the substantial business men of Miami. 

FRANK WALTON CHAPIMAN 

Some of the most important business enterprises in Miami owe their 
inception to the initiative and organizing ability of Frank Walton Chap- 
man and their continued growth to his industry and good management. 
Since 1895, when he moved to this State, he has thoroughly identified 
himself with community interests, his activities touching and influencing 
various lines of growth and progress. He is today at the head of a profit- 
able plumbing establishment and in the conduct of this and his other 
extensive and representative interests is constituting himself a distinct 
individual force in advancement. He was born in Essex, Connecticut, April 
2, 1854, and comes from one of the oldest families in New England, the 
line having descended from Sir Robert Chapman, who came from England 
to America in the seventeenth century and became one of the founders 
of Saybrook, Connecticut, near which place he had large grants of land 
from the Crown. Sir Robert Chapman's descendants became afterward 
prominent in all of the American wars. Jedediah Chapman, who was 
bom August 1, 1759, and died November 5, 1848, was sergeant in the 
First Regiment, Connecticut Line ; he was captain of militia during Tryon's 
invasion in 1779, having enlisted March 9, 1777, and being honorably dis- 
charged March 9, 1780. Horace Chapman served in the War of 1812, 
and Aaron P. Chapman, father of the subject of this review, served in 
the Union Army during the Civil War. Frank W. Chapman's parents 
were Aaron P. and Mettie J. (Williams) Chapman, both of whom have 
passed away, the mother dying when the subject of this review was only 
three years of age. The father afterward removed to Monroe, Michigan, 
where he married Matilda Prindle, who became the second mother to his 
son. Aaron P. Chapman engaged for many years in railway contracting 
and was active in this occupation until the time of his death, which 
occurred in 1879. His widow survives him and makes her home in Detroit, 
Michigan. 

When Frank W. Chapman was eight years of age he accompanied his 
father to Monroe, Michigan, and there he remained until he was sixteen. 
At that time he returned to Connecticut in order to complete his educa- 
tion, pursuing his studies there for three years. He began his inde- 
pendent cai-eer as an apprentice in a mercantile establishment in Beacon 
Falls, Connecticut, and after serving two years turned his attention to 
railroad work, in which he engaged in various capacities for fully twenty 
years. He began as foreman of a construction gang, rising from that 
position to be a railway contractor, then freight conductor, then passen- 
ger conductor and finally purchasing agent. When the Nickel Plate Rail- 

250 




F. W. CHAPMAN 



road was constructed he aided in building it between Buffalo and Cleve- 
land and later was a passenger conductor on the line. He has the dis- 
tinction of having made the first coupling on that road. 

In 1895 Mr. Chapman came to Florida and located first in Linton, 
which is now Delray, of which community he was the first settler and 
the first postmaster. He remained two years, coming in 1897 to Miami, 
where he has since been a resident and one of the city's substantial men 
of affairs. He has been interested in building operations in other com- 
munities also, and in 1903 erected in Delray the Chapman House, the 
first hotel built in the city. He continued to be its owner for five years, 
but finally sold the establishment and later erected several apartment 
houses in Jacksonville, which he still holds. For several years past Mr. 
Chapman has been associated with his only son in the plumbing business 
in Miami. Frank Walton Chapman, Jr., is a practical plumber and an 
expert in this line of work, and the business has grown to be one of the 
best in Miami. 

Mr. Chapman married, August 26, 1876, Lucy LaSalle, a native of 
Monroe, Michigan, of French ancestry. They have three children: Frank 
W. Chapman, Jr. ; Ella, who married Emil Ehman, an architect of Jack- 
sonville ; and Olive, who became the wife of Clarence F. Lauther, an elec- 
trical contractor in Miami. Fraternally Mr. Chapman is connected with 
the Masonic order, being a member of the Scottish Rite, Knights Templar, 
Royal and Select Masons and the Shrine. He is a member of Morocco 
Temple of Jacksonville and the Shrine Club of Miami. He is a director in 
the Miami Exchange Bank and connected with other important enterprises. 
He is known as a resourceful and successful business man and a progressive 
citizen interested in all that pertains toward the material and moral 
advancement of the city. 

ARTHUR W. SANDERS 

Arthur W. Sanders, President of the Bank of Coconut Grove and a 
pioneer citizen and business man of that section, came to Coconut Grove 
in 1894 and since that time has been identified with the commercial pi'og- 
ress and moral advancement of that community. Mr. Sanders is a native 
of Huntingdon, England, where he was born January 1, 1866. He is a 
son of David and Mary (Wilson) Sanders, natives of England, both of 
whom lived and died in their native country. 

Arthur W. Sanders was reared in England and there acquired a 
public school education. As a young man he worked at the grocery busi- 
ness for a period of five years, serving an apprenticeship, as is the custom 
in England, and gaining a knowledge of the business that proved valuable 
in his later career. In 1894 he came to America, landing at New York 
and sailing from there to Key West, thence to Coconut Grove. There 
he became associated with Charles Peacock & Son in the grocery business, 

251 



and this connection continued for a number of years. In 1910 Mr. 
Sanders established the Sanders-Peacock Company, general merchants, 
and a few years later he acquired the entire interest in the business, which 
he successfully conducted until November, 1920, when he sold the store 
to the Miami Grocery Company. Mr. Sanders was elected president of 
the Bank of Coconut Grove at the organization of that institution Novem- 
ber 16, 1920. This is one of the substantial banks of Dade County, being 
a member of the Witham chain of banks and depositors being guaranteed 
against loss. 

Mr. Sanders married, June 22, 1897, Janie E. Kemp, of Key West, 
Florida, and they have one child, Gertrude May, who is the widow of the 
late Walter W. Woodford, who was town clerk of Coconut Grove at the 
time of his death. Mr. Sanders is a member of the Congregational 
Church of Coconut Grove and served many years as treasurer of the 
church. A business man of wide experience and recognized ability, he 
is also a citizen of character and influence and is highly esteemed as one 
of the solid, substantial men of the community, whose influence may 
always be counted on in behalf of all movements calculated to benefit the 
community's moral and intellectual progress. 

LOCKE T. HIGHLEYMAX 

Locke T. Highleyman, founder of the Fidelity Bank & Trust Company, 
has, for many years, been a conspicuous figure in the financial, political 
and social life of Miami. Distinctively a man of affairs, he has made his 
constructive ability and his aggressive leadership the foundation of a 
large success, which, touching and influencing many vital phases of local 
development, has been a powerful factor in the growth of the com- 
munity. Mr. Highleyman is a native of Sedalia, Missouri, born April 
23, 1870, and he is a son of Hon. Samuel L. and Laura Alice (Hull) High- 
leyman, the former a native of the State of Ohio and the latter born in 
the city of Des Moines, Iowa. The father is now a resident of Sedalia, 
Missouri, and a member of the Missouri legislature from that district. 
The mother is deceased. 

Locke T. Highleyman acquired a high school education in the public 
schools of Sedalia and St. Louis. When sixteen years of age he became 
a clerk with the Missouri Pacific Railroad at St. Louis, and remained in 
the service of that company for a number of years, rising to the position 
of assistant tax commissioner. Following this he was for a period of 
fourteen years engaged in the real estate business in St. Louis, developing 
a number of important subdivisions of that city. During this time he was 
also interested as joint owner of the Columbian Investment Company, of 
St. Louis, and was manager of the Cooper estate, at that time the largest 
personal estate in the city of St. Louis. He was first attracted to Miami 
in 1903, and was a winter resident here from that time until 1913, when 
he located here permanently. In 1911 he began the development of Point 

252 



View, one of the most exclusive residential sections of the city, and in 
1919 started the construction of Palm Island, in Biscayne Bay, a project 
of magnitude and beauty, the development of which is still in progress. 
In 1916 he formed the Fidelity Bank & Trust Company, and by the force 
of his ability quickly won for it a prominent place among the financial 
institutions of the city. In 1917 he established the Fidelity Mortgage & 
Guarantee Company, a concern of large facilities and recognized standing. 
Identified with large and important business interests, he is, in addition, 
one of the distinguished leaders of local politics and active and influential 
in civic affairs. He served as a member of the Miami City Council for 
a period of four years, during the years 1914-1918, and was a forceful 
and aggressive factor in the accomplished work of that body. He was the 
committeeman on sanitation during the first two years of his sen'ice 
and committeeman on finance the remaining two years. He has likewise 
been active in all movements calculated to enhance the development and 
improvement of the community. He was chairman of the Chamber of 
Commerce committee that put through the Tamiami Trail and was one 
of the promoters of the Southern Drainage District, of which he is now 
one of the Supervisors. 

Mr. Highleyman married June 7, 1900, Kathaiyn A. Daly, of Cameron, 
Missouri, and they have two children: Samuel Daly Highleyman and 
Miss Locke Tiffin Highleyman. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Ma- 
sonic Order as a member of the Shrine, and he is also an Elk. His clubs 
include the Miami Rotary Club, the Motor Club and the Anglers' Club. 
A typical man of the age, alert and enterprising, with marked fertility 
of resource, his chief work has been that of a remarkably successful 
business man, yet the range of his activities and the scope of his influence 
have reached far beyond that field. 

FRED HAND 

The advanced and enlightened methods of photography which in the 
last two decades have practically revolutionized the craft find a worthy 
exponent in Fred Hand, of the Fred Hand Studio, Miami, whose artistic 
ability has gained for him a foremost place in the ranks of the profession 
in the South. Fred Hand is one of the pioneer citizens of Miami, his 
residence here dating from July 4, 1898, and he has kept pace with the 
progressive development of the city during this period of growth and 
expansion. Mr. Hand is a native of Germany, born January 1, 1859, 
and he is a son of John Frederick and Kathleen (Wordehoff')' Hand, the 
former a descendant of Gei-man stock and the latter of French ancestry. 
Coming to America in 1874, when he was fifteen years of age, he located 
in the city of Chicago, where he attended the public schools and received 
private courses in higher training. As a young man he spent three years 
as a traveling salesman for a Chicago mercantile house. About 1888 he 
came to Florida, locating at Tampa, where he resided for about one year. 

253 



Possessing a knowledge of photography since a boy, he found in Tampa 
an opportunity to take up the study of the craft, and removing to Ocala, 
Florida, a short time later he there began his professional career under 
the tutorship of an able and skilled artist. He was thus engaged for a 
period of three years, when he removed to Titusville and became an active 
partner in a studio there. Three years later he removed to West Palm 
Beach, where he conducted an independent studio for four years. On 
July 4, 1898, he came to Miami and established the Fred Hand Studio, 
which he has since continuously conducted and which has had his direct 
personal attention during all these years, with the exception of five 
months during 1910, when he made a trip to Europe. His first studio 
here was located on Avenue C and he has occupied his present location 
at 36 East Flagler Street for nearly three years. Mr. Hand is an artist 
of marked ability whose professional work has won distinctive recognition 
from the fellow-members of the craft as well as the laity, and he enjoys 
the patronage of a discriminating clinetele. 

Mr. Hand was married, December 29, 1891, to Olive Williams, daugh- 
ter of Russell M. and Anna E. (Mclntire) Williams, both of whom were 
natives of the State of Kentucky, where Mrs. Hand was also bom. Mr. 
and Mrs. Hand have two children: Russell Frederick Hand, engaged 
in the insurance business in Miami, and Gretchen, wife of Paul Smith, a 
chemist of Indianapolis, Indiana. Mr. Hand is a member of the Episcopal 
church. A citizen of Miami for over twenty years and closely associated 
with its business interests, he has gained a wide acquaintance here and 
a worthy place among the city's substantial and representative business 
men. 

CHARLES r. SULZNER 

Charles F. Sulzner has been a citizen of Miami since the memorable 
year of the city's foundation and he has been identified in a substanital 
manner with the grovd;h and development of the community. He early 
demonstrated his faith in the future of Miami by substantial investment 
and by his business foresight and discriminating judgment he has won 
for himself a generous competency, as well as the high regard of all with 
whom he has come in contact. 

Mr. Sulzner is a native of Huntsville, Alabama, born December 27, 
1853, and he is a son of Frederick and Margaret (Christopher) Sulzner, 
the foi-mer a native of Gennany and the latter born in Selma, Alabama. 
The father, who was born in 1823, was in the wholesale business in 
Mobile, Alabama, for a number of years. Both parents are now deceased. 
Charles F. Sulzner was reared in Mobile, Alabama, where his parents 
lived for several years and where his father owned considerable property. 
He acquired his education at Barton Academy, at Mobile, and at Blue 
College, located in the same city. Leaving school, he went to New Or- 
leans and there learned the trade of a manufacturing jeweler. Upon at- 
taining his majority he went to San Francisco and the following two 

254 



years was spent in California and Nevada. Returning to tlie Southland, 
he located in Milton, Florida, and opened a jewehy, stationery and book 
store, which he successfully conducted for a period of three or four years. 
Disposing of his store, he removed to Lake City, Florida, thence to Palatka 
and later to St. Augustine, where he was engaged in the jewelry busi- 
ness for fifteen years and where he was very successful. He had accumu- 
lated a comfortable competency, giving him an annual income of $1,500 
per year, and he and his wife decided to retire. He came to Miami in 
1896, a short time before the railroad was built into the city. He char- 
tered the sailboat Cnpid and sailed down here, cruising from Palm Beach 
to Miami, tying his boat to a stake amid a pile of rocks at the southeast 
corner of what is now the Royal Palm Hotel. At that time the city had 
been laid out on paper only and prices of lots were too high to attract 
investors. Mr. Flagler soon ordered the prices cut in two. Mr. Sulzner 
did not buy that year, but came back the next year and bought two lots, 
one at Twelfth and C, where the new Tatum building now stands, for 
one thousand dollars, and one where the Whaler jewelry store is located 
for eight hundred and seventy-five dollars. On the property at Twelfth 
and C he built a frame building with three store rooms and back offices, 
and some expressed surprise at his business audacity. Several years 
later this property had an annual rental of $2,2.50 and a valuation of 
$22,500. The following year the property was offered for $30,000, but 
the sale not being made the owner took it off the market. The next year 
the valuation went to $45,000, which was refused, and in another year 
a winter visitor ofi'ered $50,000 for the property. A year later Mr. Sulz- 
ner made out the first ninety-nine year lease executed in Miami, when 
he leased this property on the basis of six per cent on a valuation of 
$60,000. This lease was afterward cancelled, and the price of the rental 
was soon increased to $5,000 a year. The property has a present valu- 
ation of $250,000 and is leased for ninety-nine years at an annual rental 
of $22,500. Mr. Sulzner has bought property in Miami every year and 
his faith in the city and its future is unbounded. At the time of his com- 
ing here he moved his jewelry stock here, but never opened up, dispos- 
ing of his stock to Mr. Whaler, who was just then embarking in business. 
Mr. Sulzner married, September 13, 1893, Pearl Danforth, of Albion, 
New York. They spend their summers in Europe or in the North, but 
Miami holds first place in their hearts. Mr. Sulzner is numbered among 
the solid, substantial men of the community, and cooperates in all move- 
ments for the material, intellectual and moral progress of the city. He is 
thoroughly familiar with the history of Miami and has had a worthy 
part in its making. His many years of residence here have made him 
widely and favorably known and his activities have been an element in 
the general growth and progress of the community. 



255 



INDEX 

Arremow, David 181 

Allen, Louis A 241 

Atkinson, H. P 146 

Atkisson, R. V. 113 

Belcher, S. A 99 

Benson, C. D 117 

Blackman, E. V 96 

Blanton, W. F 191 

Bliss, Alonzo _ 235 

BoBST, M. S 221 

BowEN, C. D 188 

Branning, H. Pierre 115 

Brossier, F. C 212 

Brossier, G. D 142 

Brown, Armstead 225 

Budge, H. C 138 

Burbank, M. S 149 

Burdine, R. B 137 

Burdine, R. F 144 

Brunner, E. C 238 

Carter, A. T 240 

Cason, F. W 222 

Cassel, I. M _ 233 

Cellon, George B _ 200 

Chafer, R. E 175 

Chaille, J. F 214 

Chaille, W. H 218 

Chapman, F. W 250 

Chase, H. R 169 

Cheatham, J. H _ 118 

Claussen, John W _ - 110 

Cohen, Isidor - 164 

Collins, John S. .._ - 172 

Combs, W. H „ _ - 220 

Cook, George F 183 

Cromer, Daniel _ - 180 

i 



Davenport, Thomas S _ 224 

Dean, S. Bobo 116 

DeGarmo, Walter C _ 154 

Dillon, R. M 239 

DoNN, James _ 185 

Dorn, J. K „ _...._ 208 

Douglas, E. B _ _ _ 106 

Drake, Gaston 144 

Evans, A. L __ _._ _ „ _ 161 

EwiNG, Charles S _ _ _ _._ _ 219 

Eyles, H. H. _ 234 

Paris, W. W _ _ _ _ 120 

Feaster, J. T 207 

Ferris, Don F _ _ „ 179 

Ferris, H. T - 174 

Filer, H. H 154 

Fisher, Charles M 159 

Frohock, John 246 

Frazure, C. M _ _ 216 

Gardner, L. C 236 

Gilman, James H 103 

Godman, J. D - - 215 

Gramling, John C 104 

Gbamling, W. S 163 

Greaves, Jos. P 155 

Griffing, Arthur M 223 

Grilet, George L 189 

Hall, R. E 176 

Hall, W. W 145 

Hand, Fred „ 253 

Hardee, M. C -. 141 

Henderson, P. A ^ - 130 

Heyser, a. E _ 226 

Highleyman, L. T - 252 

Hodsdon, B. F _ - 148 

Hudson, P. M - 205 

Humphreys, J. W _ _ - 197 

Hyman, H. H _ ■■ :■■- 150 

ii 



Jackson, James M 95 

Jaudon, E. K _ . 132 

Jaudon, J. F _ 170 

JUNKIN, J. E 156 

Keene, Frank A 128 

King, H. M 210 

Leppler, C. D - „ 107 

LroDY, W. J - _ _ 230 

LuMMUs, J. E _ 109 

LuMMUs, J. N - _ _ _ 232 

March, M. H 194 

Mase, H. H 199 

Mils, Gus A 249 

Moore, T. V _ 244 

Morse, Fred S _ 125 

MuNROE, Kirk _ 124 

Munroe, R. M - - 119 

McDonald, Eli _ _ - 237 

McDonald, J. A - 122 

McLendon . R. B 1 60 

North, John L 192 

Pan-American College of Commerce 230 

Pancoast, T. J 140 

Peacock, H. J 196 

Peeples, W. H - 162 

Pepper, F. J 136 

Perry, W. G _ 198 

Price, W. H 182 

Railet, L. R - - 147 

Ralston, H. G - 134 

Rand, Fred H., Jr 157 

Reid, James E - 126 

Reilly, John B 94 

Riley, Bart A _ - ^37 

Roberts, E. A - 1^5 

Romph, E. C - - - - Ill 



Sailors, 0. B _ _ _ 131 

Sanders, A. W 251 

Sawtelle, J. P _ 235 

Schilling, I. E _ _ _ 242 

Schilling, "W. W _ 248 

Sewell, E. G _ 91 

Sewell, John _ 114 

Seybold, John „ 152 

Shepard, Ben 187 

Shutts, F. B _ _ _ 190 

Skaggs, p. T _ _ 202 

Stembler, George C 229 

Stoneman, F. B _.„ _ _ 211 

SULZNER, C. F 254 

Talley, J. H _ _ _ _ 217 

Tatum, B. B 102 

Tatum, J. R _ _ 158 

Tatum, S. M _ 98 

Thomas, Irving J __ _ 245 

Thompson, R. H ....._ 231 

Trapp, Harlan A 195 

Ullendorff, P _ „ 176 

Urmey, W. N _ 133 

Vanderpool, F. W -.._ _ - - 189 

Waddell, E. a - 166 

Warren, George E 138 

Watson, J. W - 203 

Wharton, F. H _ _ - - 129 

WiLLARD, Ben C. 178 

Wilson, J. I - — - 101 

Wilson, T. 151 

WiNFiELD, Turner A _ - - - - 186 

Withers, J. E _ - - -- - 168 

Wolfe, J. Emmet - - — 139 

Worley, G. A _ - - - 227 



IV 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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llli nil III 1 11 1 lill Jill 

014 499 890 A. 



